Junior Receives National Humanitarian Award

March 6, 1994

March 6, 1994, Greencastle, Ind. - Marcus Cornelius Robinson, a DePauw University junior from St. Louis, Missouri, is one of five college students nationally selected to receive this year's Howard R. Swearer Student Humanitarian Award for outstanding public service activities. Students are nominated for the award by their college president, and the recognition is accompanied by $1,500 to support their continued attempts to address societal needs. Other recipients this year are students at UCLA, Brown University, Centralia College and Grinnell College.

For three years, Robinson has led a mentoring program with inner-city children in Indianapolis. The Riverside Project, which provides academic mentoring for both boys and girls in elementary school, also focuses on helping the kids learn respect for themselves, others and society.

Robinson said that "the most exciting part of this experience (community service) is the smile on the face of the child who feels better about himself or herself as a result of our visit." In addition, Robinson created Brothers and Sisters Striving (BASS), an academic study and support group for African-American students at DePauw. Students involved in BASS sign a contract to attend study sessions and academic and motivational workshops as well as to report on their progress to an assigned mentor. 

A 1990 graduate of Pattonville High School, Robinson is the son of Jennifer L. Robinson, 5110 Wabada, St. Louis. He is majoring in English writing at DePauw.

The award is named in honor of the late Howard R. Swearer, a founder of Campus Compact and past president of Brown University. Campus Compact: The Project for Public and Community Service is a national coalition of 400 college and university presidents committed to making community service an integral part of undergraduate education. It is a project of the Education Commission of the States (ECS). Frank Newman, ECS president, and Dolores Cross, president, Chicago State University, will present the awards March 26 at the American Association for Higher Education's national conference at the Chicago Hilton & Towers in Chicago.

Founded in 1837, DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., is a selective coeducational, liberal arts university with nationally recognized academic programs. DePauw guarantees graduation in four years for students in 40 standard programs, or the University will waive tuition and fees for any subsequent course work necessary for graduation. Fortune magazine in 1990 ranked DePauw 11th among all colleges and universities in the nation in terms of the likelihood that its graduates will become chief executive officers of top American companies. DePauw ranks 12th in the nation among private liberal arts colleges and universities as the baccalaureate source for Ph.D. degrees in all fields, according to a 1990 survey by Franklin and Marshall College.

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