麻豆传媒

September 10, 2025

by Lauren Ferguson

Before even starting their first classes on 麻豆传媒 of New Jersey鈥檚 picturesque Mahwah campus, a group of new students fanned out across the largest municipality in Bergen County to give back to the community where they will be spending their college years.

The 55 first-year and transfer students in Ramapo鈥檚 Leaders in Service program participated in the first 鈥淢ahwah Day of Service鈥� organized by the college鈥檚 Civic and Community Engagement Center.

Incoming students volunteered to teach senior citizens about technology at the Mahwah Senior Center, get their hands dirty doing outdoor maintenance at both the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference headquarters and Continental Soldiers Park, take care of fleet vehicles at the Mahwah Department of Public Works, and pitch in at the Mahwah Public Library.

The day 鈥済ave the students a sense of their place within the community鈥� and helped them 鈥渞eally understand that they are part of a larger group,鈥� said Dylan Heffernan, Ramapo鈥檚 assistant director of civic engagement.

Helping Seniors

Management major Mia Scavetta 鈥�29 of Oradell, NJ, and neuroscience major Zachary Martone 鈥�29 of Cliffside Park, NJ, were part of a team dispatched to the Mahwah Senior Center. They sat at a table with Mahwah resident Ula Sowinski who was having trouble with passwords on her phone. They gave her advice about setting passwords and using a passwords app and also tips about avoiding scam texts.

Mia Scavetta ’29 and Zachary Martone ’29 helped Ula Sowinski with tech issues at the Mahwah Senior Center.

鈥淚t is nice being able to get out and help people, especially with something that they are struggling with,鈥� said Scavetta.

For Sowinski, having young people visit the center to help with tech issues was both needed and refreshing. 鈥淚t is good to see younger faces,鈥� said a joyful Sowinski, who said when she was in school she used to volunteer at a hospital.

Other Ramapo students helped senior citizens with issues like downloading Siri to a phone and learning how to ask the tool questions, changing alert notifications on a phone, and updating settings so the phone screen would not go dark so quickly.

Helping the Environment

At the headquarters of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, across Route 202 from Ramapo鈥檚 campus, students were busy removing invasive plants, trimming back native species, mulching and moving rocks.

After removing mugwort, nursing majors Amaya Santiago 鈥�29 of Kinnelon, NJ, Giana Hernandez 鈥�29 of Nutley, NJ, and biology major Brianna Benitez 鈥�29 of Ridgefield Park, NJ, were working together to spread mulch.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a lot of opportunities to just go and volunteer, so it’s definitely a different experience, and I really liked it,鈥� Santiago said. 鈥淏eing outside and seeing all the differences that we make, actually, really, really, really makes me happy, and I鈥檓 definitely going to be doing more volunteering.鈥�

Amaya Santiago ’29 and Brianna Benitez ’29 volunteered at聽 the headquarters of New York-New Jersey Trail Conference.

Katie Kourakos, volunteer engagement manager for the Trail Conference, said the students鈥� hard work made a huge difference. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really helpful. The amount of work that they get done, it would take numerous volunteer days for us to accomplish the same amount,鈥� she said.

Emerging Campus Leaders

The 鈥淢ahwah Day of Service鈥� was part of the five-day Leaders in Service summer session, where new students are given the opportunity to get involved with service projects, political engagement, and leadership opportunities at Ramapo before their first semester even begins. Then during the academic year, students in the program attend monthly workshops covering topics on civic engagement, leadership development, and skill-building.

In their applications to join the program, students submitted letters they drafted to public officials about issues impacting their generation 鈥� such as healthcare, reproductive rights, mental health support, social media and gun violence.

This year鈥檚 group was the largest in the college鈥檚 history with 55 total students, including 8 transfer students. 鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly a group that has people that want to be changemakers,鈥� said Eddie Seavers, associate director of the Center for Student Involvement, which oversees the program.

During the week, students had meals and discussions with 麻豆传媒 President Cindy Jebb, Bergen County Commissioner Tracy Zur, and Ramapo Vice President for Government Relations Patrick O鈥機onnor. They also learned from Ramapo alumni who are now civic leaders during a panel discussion, took part in team-building and bonding exercises and traveled to New York City to experience the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Broadway show.

For the final part of the week, the students joined college staff and upperclass leaders to move about 650 fellow first-year and transfer students into their dorms.

鈥淎fter five days, they are already entrenched in the leadership fabric of the campus,鈥� said Rick Brown, director of the Center for Student Involvement.

Kerry Thorne 鈥�29, an undecided student from New Milford, NJ, said the entire week was impactful for him. 鈥淚t showed us a lot of opportunities that I did not know were at Ramapo,鈥� he said.

Kerry Thorne 鈥�29 volunteered at the Mahwah Senior Center to help seniors with technology.