Empowering Active Citizens
Mobilize URI
A Proposal by Margaret Robinson
EPHS Graduating Class of 2025
The following is a sample website for a potential student program at URI
“Mobilize URI” is a proposed program that bridges the gap between intention and action for Gen-Z students.
The premise is to either require or encourage all URI undergraduates to complete a certain number of community service hours in order to graduate. This would be a natural extension of the Rhode Island Department of Education’s call to action for RI public High Schools, to get civically engaged.
The program would begin with the formation of a committee composed of diverse and intersectional students and alumni, faculty and administration, as well as invited community stake-holders. This group will establish the program's parameters, requirements, administration, and execution. The committee would also be tasked with curating initial approved “impact hours” organizations such as the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, and initiating outreach with leadership of these organizations to ascertain their needs.
Let’s energize, empower, and equip a new generation of community leaders.
#mobilizeuri
The Benefits of Community Service
Benefits for Students
Increased sense of accomplishment and civic-engagement
Additional clarity on future professional endevours
Real world experience
Benefits for URI
Enhancing the tradition of URI being a leader in education
Build community connections and programming ingenuity
Attract new students and create networking opportunities
Benefits for Rhode Island
Mobilize all incoming URI undergraduate students to participate in service hours to local (approved) non-profits
Thousands of hours of quality labor benefitting under-served communities
Creating an engaged and involved society
Empowering Leaders & Engaged Citizens
Discover Your Community
The Rhode Island Department of Education requires that all high school students have work-based learning experiences or community service - this connects students to new passions that helps them better serve their community. I want this for all students. #mobilizeuri
Find Your Passion
The Wall Street Journal awarded URI as the No. 1 public university in New England - Let’s step up and deliver even more to our students and the community at large. #mobilizeuri
The Power of Service
If every undergraduate student completed 50 hours of community service, that’s roughly 220,000 hours of civic experience and community aid per year. #mobilizeuri
It’s not just community service, it’s community impact.
These completed and advised “impact” hours will create lasting relationships between URI students and alumni and the greater community at large.
It’s connecting philosophy, values, and action.
Sample Data
221,876 Impact Hours in Rhode Island
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as of February 2027
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221,876 Impact Hours in Rhode Island 〰️ as of February 2027 〰️
Your 50 impact hours
Part of a well rounded undergraduate education is discovering where you fit in with your community at large.
Now, more than ever - participating in justice and equity causes, and community resource support has a seismic impact.
Find your passion & support your community!
Departmental Synergy
Consider the following opportunities for departmental paartnerships with ideal-fit organizations.
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Nutrition Degree
A Nutrition major working in a community clinic might gain firsthand insight into the firsthand social determinants of health.
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Engineering Major
An engineering student working on affordable housing solutions might develop new approaches to sustainable design.
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Animal and Veterinary Science
A biology or chemistry major volunteering in an animal hospital could gain experience preparing and analyzing lab samples and diagnosing health conditions.
You asked us to think big, and while my personal passions around nutritional access and equity are formidable, Mobilize URI is more than the passion and activism of one student or one idea.
Mobilize URI ensures a lasting impact that grows beyond one idea or one niche.
It exponentially mobilizes student engagement and community involvement - equipping more students to participate in civic life.
Follow us on social #mobilizeuri
"I discovered a new passion, and I changed majors!"
"I discovered a new passion, and I changed majors!"
"I have a clear vision of how to stay involved."
"I have a clear vision of how to stay involved."
"I know I made a difference."
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"I know I made a difference." -
A note from Maggie Robinson:
At East Providence High School there is a 24 hour community service requirement for graduation. This changed my perspective on community engagement.
I was encouraged to take action in ways that could help my school and city directly.
I got involved in helping to establish a food pantry, joining school improvement teams, and advocating for nutritional education.
I learned that I have the power to make a difference, and this lesson will likely be part of my life forever.
People my age care about their communities, but often don’t know where to start.
That’s where higher education comes in through Mobilize URI.
Let’s #mobilizeuri
Get Connected
Interested in joining the Mobilize URI student committee? Get on the list!