HKS students, Harvard football team host Special Olympics event

As part of the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Public Service Week (Oct. 12-17), HKS’ Student Public Service Collaborative (SPSC) and its Special Needs Caucus joined forces with the Harvard Football Team and Special Olympics Massachusetts to host a morning of Special Olympics events.

After HKS Dean David T. Ellwood opened the ceremonies, more than 70 staff, volunteers, and students from HKS and across the University took to the Harvard soccer field on a chilly Sunday morning (Oct. 17) for games of flag football, cheerleading, and punt, pass, and kick events.

“Public service is only partly about engaging in volunteerism; it is also about connecting with the people around us,” said Rachel O’Leary, M.P.P. ’11, one of the event organizers. “By connecting with our friends and family through service during our brief time at HKS, we can honor the sentiment behind President Kennedy’s inaugural speech to ask what we can do.”

Public Service Week included public service-related events across the School, including a John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on the Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary, a meeting of HKS’ Sustainability Initiative, and a working group to examine trends in public service.