15 Years of Positive Change with COOP
Pop through the double doors at any given moment, and you’re bound to enter a whirlwind of activity, whether it’s Director Amy James catching up with community partners on the phone, senior fellows and junior interns holding drop-in office hours while brainstorming events, or students and staff passing through from the neighboring Levitt Public Affairs Center.
The COOP’s array of 14+ direct service programs connect Hamilton students and employees with nonprofit agencies in Clinton, Utica, Rome, and beyond. Through STEM and SAT tutoring, summer internship funding, and the COOP Service Internship (CSI) Program, students create positive change while developing close and enduring relationships with local communities.
The COOP’s impact is unquestionable, and thanks to the efforts of hundreds of students, it is also lasting.
Featured image (above): The COOP Service Interns gather in the Chapel to connect and discuss the semester's projects. Photo: Zack Stanek
COOP’s Impact at Hamilton
Taima Ashour ’28 is a member of the newest CSI cohort. Although she has only visited the Mohwak Valley Community Action Agency (MVCAA) a handful of times, the site and CSI’s weekly meetings are already proving transformative. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to end up feeling like a family,” she said about her CSI cohort.
That is the goal of Director Amy James, who founded the COOP in 2009 with Jeffrey McArn, now senior lecturer religious studies; then Dean of Students Nancy Thompson; and AmeriCorps VISTA member Jeremy Wattles. The COOP has expanded from just a few student-run programs to 14+ regularly running programs united under one office.
What lies beyond these numbers, according to James, are “the more intangible items: the opportunities for students to develop relationships with people in the community, from agency directors to children at the Thea Bowman House; to explore passions, and even career paths…and to, as President Steven Tepper puts it, ‘practice the liberal arts.’”
COOP By The Numbers
The following statistics are from the 2023-24 academic year.
James attributes the COOP’s success to its collaborative nature. “My students are my staff,” she said. The Hamilton students in her office are “passionate, driven, persistent, creative, eager to learn, and extremely resourceful … and fun!” Faculty, staff, and community partners near and far are also the highlight of James’ work. “I’ve loved providing a community and a home for students, and getting to know them in meaningful ways,” she said. “I just love the way the COOP has taken hold at Hamilton and grown, and the incredible opportunity that I’ve had — as an employee and as a human — to grow along with it.”
Longtime community partners in Utica and Clinton share James’ gratitude for the COOP’s far-reaching impact and the enthusiastic contributions of Hamilton students.
Leslie Nicolette is director of development at Rescue Mission of Utica. Nicolette has seen seven years of Hamilton students help the Mission meet community member’s physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and practical needs. She reflected, “[The COOP] exposes students to things they might not have been a part of before and it gives agencies a fresh perspective. It’s a win-win.”
Emily Heintz teaches at Clinton Elementary School and has been a Hamilton Reads partner for three years. She has consistently seen how Hamilton role models foster a love of learning and reading and beautiful friendships among her students. “It’s invaluable for the students, for their parents, and again, for us as teachers,” she remarked.
Strengthening Community Ties
At the COOP, accidents often turn into windfall. Anoushka Saraf ’25 was initially not selected for the CSI program. However, COOP leaders soon recognized that Saraf, who attended a Community Conversations event about refugee resettlement in Utica and sought deeper involvement, was a perfect fit for a new position at the Midtown Utica Community Center (MUCC).
Fast forward and Saraf is this year’s Utica education fellow alongside Megan Rai ’25. Their goal is to reestablish Hamilton volunteer connections within the Utica School District. Despite obstacles regarding logistics, Saraf and Rai continue to advocate for Hamilton students’ to provide college counseling, homework help, and extracurricular enrichment.
How has COOP influenced you to become a leader in community service?
Coming to the U.S. from her home of Mumbai, India, Saraf said, “I didn’t realize so many people were also in need.” Working with MUCC and the Utica Public Schools has taught her to change the way she responds based on the needs of the population she’s serving. After graduation, Saraf plans to return to India to try to enact similar qualitative changes within the country’s educational systems.
Developing Leadership Skills
For CSI fellow Kirk Petrie ’25 and Greek Life fellow Irena Chen ’25, direct service filled their first days on campus. After his outreach-based orientation trip, Petrie volunteered at the Rescue Mission through the first-year course American Freedom and Religious Thought. The mission would later become his site for CSI, and he mentors current CSIs as this year’s senior fellow.
Chen’s orientation trip set her on a similar path to leadership. The first in her class to join the Hamilton Association for Volunteering, Outreach, and Charity (HAVOC), she has since co-directed HAVOC, volunteered at organizations across Oneida County, and led three Outreach Adventure trips through the COOP.
What has been most memorable about your work through the COOP?
“The more you rise up in an organization, the more removed you are from the people that you’re serving,” Petrie acknowledged. But Petrie and Chen have both stayed close to the action. Petrie has carried out administrative tasks while collecting gift baskets for the House of the Good Shepherd and Hospice and Palliative Care of New Hartford.
Likewise, Chen recalls the reward of strengthening relationships with sites like Dunham Public Library and with senior citizens at Brookdale Senior Living in Clinton.
What role has Director Amy James played in your time at Hamilton?
“Amy trusts us a lot, so we have a lot of self-direction,” Chen said. Petrie agreed, “She wants to let students have agency in the projects they come up with and work on. She really trusts her students.”
How has COOP work changed your perspective on direct service?
“Now we’re working with the community and we’re a part of the community, as opposed to entering the community, doing something and leaving,” Chen said. “It’s one of those things you can’t teach; you just have to do it.” Kirk elaborated.
Academics Through Service
The CSI program, which matches incoming students with two-year paid internships at nonprofits, encourages underclassmen to become leaders both on and off campus. For second-year CSIs Becca Dykas, Austin Tubia, and Dehler Ingham, all Class of ’27, the COOP enables them to expand their commitment to service and refine their academic and career interests.
What is an average shift at your CSI site like?
No two CSI experiences are the same. Tubia emphasized the independence that his site, Upstate Caring Partners in Rome, allows him. Dykas, who is at Hospice and Palliative Care of New Hartford, reiterated that her work is “whatever needs to get done that day.” She has organized lists of donors and sponsorships, made baskets for nurses, and designed marketing graphics — ones that she has even seen on billboards on her drives to Utica. Ingham’s duties are no less varied. For MUCC, he has captioned social media content, planned community dinners, and brought MUCC students to campus for Hamilton sporting events.
What makes your work through the COOP different from service work you’ve done in the past?
Ingham noted that participating in CSI has made him “a lot more connected to the neighborhoods around me.” He continued, “It’s shown me how service, it’s a very intimate process.” In Dykas’ words, “I’m not just helping an individual person, I’m helping an organization.”
How do you hope to use your experience in your future academics? Your career?
Tubia arrived at Hamilton as an intended public policy or government major, but working in medical care has since inspired him to focus on neuroscience. For other CSIs, the experience has affirmed their career pursuits. Dykas, who is already pre-health, hopes to continue her medical training by converting her internship into a part-time position. Ingham intends to attend law school, though he is open to multiple paths. Whether he becomes a lawyer for underrepresented groups or an official representing and advocating for neighborhoods, he said, “There’s a lot of power in working with your local community.”