The search for "gainful employment" after graduation took on a somewhat different meaning for many young college students in Indiana this month. Participants in the first-of-its-kind Public Interest and Community Service (PICS) Fair, they gathered in Indianapolis with hopes of gaining not just financial return, but more importantly personal reward.
Nearly 150 students from 16 Midwest-area colleges and universities attended the Oct. 11 jobs fair, made possible through the Lilly Endowment-funded Plowshares Peace Studies Collaborative of Earlham, Goshen , and Manchester Colleges . The event also attracted representatives of 54 not-for-profit organizations to Christian Theological Seminary in the Hoosier capital. Following a morning schedule of workshops on issues involving social justice and community building, the students spent an afternoon exploring post-graduate options with service groups and programs both regional and national (and in the case of the Peace Corps or Operation Crossroads Africa, international as well).
Judging by evaluations submitted by students and presenters alike, the inaugural PICS Fair was a resounding success, providing - in the words of Ken Barger of Central Indiana Jobs With Justice - "a great opportunity to network with students and other organizations with social interests.
"All of these organizations in one area really gives a sense of hope to our common mission."
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Ben MacConnell, representing the Direct Action and Research Training Center, talks with a student from one of 16 colleges and universities represented at the first Plowshares-sponsored Public Interest and Community Service (PICS) jobs fair, held in Indianapolis on Oct. 11. More than 50 not-for-profit organizations distributed information at the afternoon-long event, which was preceded during the morning hours by a number of social justice and community building workshops. |
The PICS fair not only allowed students an opportunity to gain information on post-graduate options in public service, but it also gave representatives of the various organizations in attendance a chance to network with some of their peers. In this example Stuart Jones, director of career services at Manchester College , meets with Kelly Found of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. |
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More than 140 students registered for the PICS fair, which took place in the congenial surroundings of Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis . The fair is an outgrowth of a smaller National Peace and Justice Week event held the preceding 14 years at Earlham College . Here at left, Charles Bunner of the Friends Committee on National Legislation continues a Quaker presence at the expanded event. |
While most of the organizations that participated in the PICS fair have their base of operations in Indiana or the Midwest , several are national or international in scope, including the Peace Corps. Also on hand was a representative of the AFL-CIO's National Organizing Institute, who characterized the fair as "Excellent!" |
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Students take a moment to fill out personal evaluations of the PICS fair. Responses were overwhelmingly positive, causing planners of this year's event to begin already the process of preparing for an even larger fair in 2004. |
Sharing space with the public interest and non-profit service groups at the fair were a number of graduate study programs, among them Eastern Mennonite University 's Conflict Transformation Program. Hannah Berry (right), a recent Earlham College graduate, gets some details from EMU's Ruth Zimmerman. |
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