Community Service
The Pace Center for Civic Engagement has three programs committed to serving the local communities of Princeton, Trenton and Greater Mercer County. Community House is committed to closing the minority achievement gap in Princeton by providing programs that bolster early childhood literacy, promote the mastery of fundamental academic skills, and create early awareness of post-secondary opportunities for underserved minority youth. The Student Volunteers Council operates around 40 direct service projects in Princeton and Trenton and is the largest student-run organization at Princeton University. Through the Prison Teaching Initiative, volunteers teach college-credit-bearing courses at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Yardville and at the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility in Bordentown.
Community House is committed to closing the minority achievement gap in Princeton by providing programs that bolster early childhood literacy, promote the mastery of fundamental academic skills, and create early awareness of post-secondary opportunities for underserved minority youth. Through collaborative partnerships with the Princeton Regional Schools and other local agencies, Community House works to ensure that these students are able to realize their academic dreams.
The Student Volunteers Council is the largest student-run organization at Princeton University, sponsoring more than 40 weekly volunteer projects addressing issues such as education, homelessness and hunger, and health and well-being.
The mission of Princeton’s Prison Teaching Initiative is to reduce incarceration rates, especially among poor and minority communities, in New Jersey by increasing access to outstanding post-secondary education. To this end, PTI provides credit-bearing college courses to inmates at two correctional facilities near Princeton’s campus. Courses in several disciplines are taught by volunteer instructors including Princeton faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, alumni, and advanced undergraduates.