On multiple occasions each year, the students, faculty and staff trade in their textbooks, journals and comfortable chairs, for work gloves, paintbrushes, and scrapers. Community service events serve as an important reminder of Temple’s core values and the need to connect to our neighborhood.
Service opportunities organized by the Office of Public Interest Programs, often in partnership with student groups, typically occur in August for the entering 1L class, in October, and on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January. We have held service events to improve facilities at the former St. Boniface Church complex in the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington, at a Philadelphia Housing Authority Community Center in the law school’s neighborhood, in the offices of community-based agency APM (Associación Puertorriqueños en Marcha) in North Philadelphia, and a public school just blocks from Temple’s campus. These events help to maintain and enhance the appearance of important community institutions, build community among the participating volunteers, and help our students get to know our neighbors, as well as important service providers and resources in Philadelphia.
Service events are advertised to the law school community through the weekly OCS email as well as flyers and through student group listservs. For information about community service opportunities, please contact Jorge Godoy or email lcareer@temple.edu.