Leaders from 10 different student groups met in Boucke Building last night to discuss a problem they all face -- how to overcome students' apathy toward community involvement on campus.

This was the second of a two-night session run by the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Social Awareness Committee, which started Tuesday and brought together a total of 24 groups.

"We're trying to change a [student] culture inside and outside the classroom," Ace Ekhtiarzadeh, head of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Social Awareness Committee, said.

"All groups have the interest in getting students to care about issues.

"None of us could do it individually, but now when we're all coming together we have a lot more power to create this kind of change," he added.

Ekhtiarzadeh said the USG committee is seeking to learn what groups can do together and individually, as well as find specific policy changes they can present to the Board of Administration and the Board of Trustees.

Rosa Eberly, associate professor of communication arts and sciences and English, said the land grant mission of the university is to preserve democracy and civic engagement.

"Civic engagement ... is what you learn in class, you bring back to your community," she said.

"How can we work on energizing people who are not already energized?" Eberly added.

Explanations given for a lack of student involvement were that groups weren't making themselves available enough, or that students think college is the time to party and not give back to their community.

"Everyone has a fourth-grade idea of civic engagement that it's mandatory, [but] it's also very fulfilling," Vicky Killion, president of Rescue Childhood, said.

"How can we convey that to the rest of the community?"

Many of the student leaders posed suggestions, such as talking to people individually about their cause, having mandatory volunteering or going to East Halls early in the semester to "recruit".

"It's the beginning of a dialogue," Beth Hardy, president of the Global AIDS Initiative, said. "Obviously this isn't going to change tomorrow, but it's the best thing to do."

Ekhtiarzadeh said after the meeting a survey will be sent out asking how the session can be improved and whether it should happen again.

Depending on feedback, the sessions could continue monthly, Ekhtiarzadeh added.