At Syracuse University, some of our most inspired learning happens outside of the classroom. A food bank. A senior center. A shelter for the unhoused.
Naiya Amin ’26, a television, radio and film major, found this out when she joined OrangeSeeds, a leadership empowerment program for first-year and transfer students. Today, she is the group’s co-executive director.
“Learning comes in all shapes and sizes,” says Amin, who minors in business and writing. “OrangeSeeds uses community engagement and service-learning experiences to not only teach leadership but also give back to local charities and nonprofits.”
Volunteers kick off “The Big Event,” the University’s largest student-run community service project. Organized by OrangeSeeds, this year’s “Big Event” occurred on Saturday, April 12.
Since 2001, OrangeSeeds has trained hundreds of undergraduates to thrive on campus, in the workplace and throughout the community. The registered student organization (RSO) attributes its success to instructional strategies steeped in critical thinking, creative problem-solving and effective communication.
This approach, Amin explains, sets clear expectations for integrity and accountability. “Volunteerism is a great way to show goodness while inspiring trust and confidence in others.”
No surprise that “Service Saturdays” is one of OrangeSeeds’ most popular fall initiatives. Students perform a variety of tasks, like preparing sandwiches at We Rise Above The Streets Recovery Outreach and distributing holiday cards and handmade blankets at The Nottingham and the Salvation Army, respectively.
Otto the Orange is a regular presence at “The Big Event.” “Some [students] participate to accrue service-learning credit; others, to build community and camaraderie,” says OrangeSeeds Co-Executive Director Jack Withee ’26. “It’s a lesson in grace.”
The series culminates in the University’s largest student-run community service project called “The Big Event.” This year’s “The Big Event” was Saturday, April 12.
“We drew approximately 175 student volunteers, many of whom were not affiliated with OrangeSeeds,” says Co-Executive Director Jack Withee ’26, an inclusive childhood education major. “Some participated to accrue service-learning credit; others, to build community and camaraderie. Regardless, it was a lesson in grace.”
A Passion for Service
Although OrangeSeeds attracts a wide range of students, a common thread among them is a desire to help others. “Most candidates are go-getters with a passion for service,” notes Assistant Director and Treasurer Regina Reisig ’26, a civil engineering major.
Withee was a high school senior when he found out about OrangeSeeds through the daughter of a family friend who served on the program’s executive board.
“We were at a graduation party, and she grabbed me by the shoulders and told me, under no uncertain terms, to apply,” he recalls. “I didn’t even know what OrangeSeeds was, but I knew it was the right thing to do.”
Withee and Amin oversee the executive board’s 10 members, each of whom has specific responsibilities and mentors two to three students known as “Seeds.”
OrangeSeeds draws on instructional strategies steeped in critical thinking, creative problem-solving and effective communication.
Between weekly meetings and informal get-togethers, Seeds interact with one another and their mentors almost daily. Friendships are formed. Coffee is consumed. There’s a lot of talk about health and wellness.
Reisig marvels at how Withee begins every meeting with a “mental health check-in.” “As an executive board member with two mentees of my own, I try to emulate what Jack teaches us about personal and civic responsibility. He’s a good role model.”
Helping Others, Helping Yourself
The Rev. Brian Konkol (left), vice president and dean of Hendricks Chapel, at “The Big Event” on April 12.
Every Seed has a compelling backstory. Nolan Singh ’28 used to volunteer at GiGi’s Playhouse, a Down syndrome achievement center, in Orange County, California. Madlyn Ritter ’28 belonged to Interact, a Rotary-sponsored service club, in suburban Philadelphia. Amin became interested in local politics and social justice while attending high school in southern Connecticut.
“The Big Event” marks the culmination of the OrangeSeeds’ “Service Saturdays” initiative. “Volunteerism is a great way to show goodness while inspiring trust and confidence in others,” says Co-Executive Director Naiya Amin ’26.
Ritter and Singh have the distinction of being the only first-year Seeds to work alongside “The Big Event’s” planning committees. Since the fall, Singh has learned “volumes” about volunteer and event management. The psychology major is still reeling from the success of the program’s winter fundraiser—an evening of rapid-fire games in the Barnes Center at The Arch—benefitting GiGi’s Playhouse Syracuse. “Every experience teaches me something about myself and others.”
Madlyn Ritter ’28 describes OrangeSeeds as “fun work.” The leadership empowerment program was founded in 2001.
He and Ritter are virtually inseparable, having trimmed hedges for Housing Visions, a nonprofit property manager; assembled information packets for the McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center; and staged events for La Casita Cultural Center.
“It’s fun work,” says Ritter, who donned a costume for Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s daytime Halloween celebration, “Zoo Boo.” “I already have lots of memories.”
As does Amin. Like the time Withee plucked a spider off her face during a yard cleanup. Or when she shredded turkeys for the Rescue Mission’s Thanksgiving Day feast. “I’m a die-hard vegetarian who’d never harm anything,” she says. “I just want to help others.”
Much of OrangeSeeds’ work takes place off campus, often involving local charities and nonprofits.
A graduate of a “really small school” in New York City, Reisig values the sense of belonging that OrangeSeeds engenders on a large campus.
“Almost every RSO has in it a Seed or a friend of Seed,” she observes. “Parents appreciate this because they know that their child is safe, that someone is looking out for them.”
Reisig also lauds OrangeSeeds’ academic merits. Last summer, she designed a multipurpose community center at an internship in Manhattan. “I couldn’t have done it without my OrangeSeeds training,” Reisig continues. “Working in a predominately male field, I’ve learned how to advocate for myself and others.”
Adds Withee: “OrangeSeeds helps you develop skills for success in college, the working world and your community. In helping others, you help yourself.”
