Loyola’s liberal arts common curriculum can get overwhelming at times. Professors challenge students to think about lofty, esoteric ideas like religion and philosophy every day. We have to analyze history and biology, and students gravitate to majors like English and economics.

We’re a liberal arts university. But we need something to balance it. Service learning is an exciting idea that’s the answer to this mainly contemplative environment. Instead of thinking about an idea in a textbook, students have an opportunity to experience it. Instead of arguing in class, students have an opportunity to make a difference.Professors who take their students outside the classroom are educating them in a way that students are less likely to forget and more likely to fully understand. By giving students an opportunity to act, professors are taking advantage of that common college-age emotion of wanting to do something but not knowing where to begin.

On top of everything, service learning at Loyola provides the city with large groups of volunteers. It’s a win-win-win situation. Students get out of the classroom. Professors have fewer papers to grade. And if professors match students with the right organization, New Orleans benefits.

Loyola professors who are involved in service learning are doing an admirable thing, and we encourage more professors to join the movement. Kelly Brotzman, director of the Office of Service Learning, has the right idea in her goals: to expand the number of course offerings that incorporate service learning across all colleges and all departments and to support people who are currently practicing this approach in their teaching.