For a second year in a row, the MSU Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) recognized a record number of students who logged 100 hours or more of community service and engagement in a calendar year. The 7th annual Spartan Volunteer Service Awards (SVSA) Ceremony took place on January 24, 2025, to recognize student volunteers for dedication to their communities between November 14, 2023, and December 8, 2024.

“It’s a joy every year to put these awards together,” said CCEL Assistant Director K.C. Keyton. “We want to say thank you from the Center and acknowledge how much time and effort [our students] have put not only into studies, but in the community as well.”

The Spartan Volunteer Service Awards are sponsored by the Office of the President and the Center for Community Engaged Learning. This year’s 205 recipients surpassed the Center’s previous record of 130 recipients in one year for volunteerism in 2022-2023. These 205 students logged 42,243 collective hours of community engagement for the year, creating the equivalent of $1,414,727 of financial impact in communities served.

Amanda Croft-deHagen, a recipient in the College of Human Medicine who served over 1000 hours in one year, was the featured student speaker. Croft-deHagen shared in her remarks that she had volunteered for the last three years with the YWCA of West Central Michigan as a survivor advocate. 

“This experience has given me the opportunity to work closely with members of my community, to fill a need within the program, and to develop my passion for service and advocacy,” shared Croft-deHagen about this partnership. She also connected this experience with her academics in Human Medicine, sharing that the experience guided her to “partner with faculty to research better training models and propose solutions” for the College’s sexual assault encounter training.

Recipients present at the ceremony were asked to share a few words about what service means to them. Responses included:

“Service, to me, means to spread the love around.” - Roberto Garcia

“It’s the small act of kindness that we spread in the world.” - Sarah Fireberg

“It means being an advocate and having a voice for community needs.” - Jasmine Zavala

“Service is not a reward, but rewarding.” - Joe Romanelli 

“For me, it is learning from and growing with a community.” - Olga Sikstel

The Center for Community Engaged Learning offers a warm congratulations to all 2024 SVSA awardees and their families and is looking forward to seeing the continued impact of the work that our students do with communities every day.