The community plunge for first-year students scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Hartman House and Public Safety made the decision together.

Instead of volunteering in the community on Tuesday morning, first-year students learned about community service opportunities from Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory and the Hartman House. The Hartman House is a spiritual center on campus and coordinates community outreach with DePauw and Greencastle communities. “We kept an eye on the forecast and it was calling for heavy rain and the thunder and lightning in the morning made us ultimately decide to cancel the project for the safety of the students,” said Samantha Sarich, coordinator of community-based learning and civic education.

Last year the community plunge, then titled ‘service plunge,’ continued despite heavy rain. Sarich organized both events and made the final call each year. Because there was no thunder and lightning and a smaller group size of 100 students last year, Sarich decided to let the event continue as planned.

This year, the community plunge was added to the orientation schedule so first-year students  could learn about the ways they could get involved with the Greencastle community. Unlike previous years, the community plunge was a required event for first-years. Each mentor group made a list of potential volunteer sites their mentee group would like to visit. The Hartman House then assigned groups to sites at a later date.“It’s a wonderful opportunity to expose students to potential service opportunities available to them through the Hartman House,” said Cara Setchell, dean of first-year students.

Setchell told The DePauw it’s important for students to be aware of DePauw University’s values as soon as they get on campus. “It’s important to give students an introduction to the Greencastle community early on,” Setchell said.

Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory spoke to the students in a presentation  early Tuesday morning about the Hartman House and service opportunities in the Greencastle community. “We want to invite students to become engaged with citizens, business and community events,” Dory said.

Dory also invited Greencastle Fire Chief John Burgess and Greencastle Police Chief Thomas Sutherlin to talk to first-years. Burgess said the fire department enjoys having students volunteer at the firehouse. “Not only do we want people to volunteer with us, but we also really enjoy students stopping in and talking with us.”

Since the community plunge was cancelled, service sites were left without student help. The Hartman House is still allowing groups to plan to volunteer at a later date, which was mentioned to students during the community service presentation. Sarich reached out to the community partners and many want to reschedule when students can come and volunteer. “Scheduling wise, it will be hard because of everyone’s schedule,” Sarich said. “This could potentially allow for upperclassmen with interest to sign up.”

Setchell said there were around 40 sites in Greencastle expecting student volunteers on Tuesday. Some of the sites mentioned include: Asbury Towers, Beyond Homeless, Greencastle Parks and Recreation, and the Putnam County Museum.  

First-year Mary Leonard was disappointed to hear that the community plunge was cancelled. Her mentor group was supposed to go to the campus farm. “I was really looking forward to going but obviously you can’t control the weather,” Leonard said. “I hope that it can be arranged for my group to do it again at a later date.”