Queens takes pride that our students, faculty, and staff are active citizens impacting the Charlotte community, our country and the world. Our motto, "Not to be served, but to serve" is weaved into what we do, where we go, and how we learn. The opportunities we offer faculty, staff and students are varied. Here are a few of our signature offerings:
Service Learning
Our faculty (undergraduate and graduate) are encouraged to incorporate service as a learning tool into their curriculum. We have students that do community work in Charlotte as well as internationally through course study. The McColl School Executive MBA students work on a consulting project for a local not-for-profit during the summer between their first and second years. This allows them to give back to the community by employing their highly sophisticated management techniques to help solve an organization's problems. The majority of Queens' students study abroad and a service component is included in most trips. Whether it is student teachers, communication majors or accounting students, each is encouraged to learn through helping others.
"Queens has shown me how important it is not to be selfish in a world where that is all people want you to be, but rather to be selfless and give to others with love and admiration. I love Queens with all my heart and I am so thankful for the education that I have received through Queens.” -Kaitlin Goodson ’16
Chapel
The Chapel at Queens is involved in a variety of on-going community projects as seen through a spiritual lens. The Chapel sponsors an annual spring break trip to Guatemala. A partnership has recently been formed with an AIDS orphanage in Cameroon. In addition to their international programs, the chapel holds on-campus service opportunities that include Operation Sandwich which makes sandwiches and distributes them to local homeless shelters.
Our annual Guatemala mission trip
Greek Life
Our fraternities and sororities break stereotypes of Greek life in the media and are using their organizations to better the community. The members of Alpha Delta Pi, Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Phi Mu, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Phi Kappa Sigma, and Pi Kappa Phi do countless hours of community service each year. Some of the organizations that are aided by these Greeks are Ronald McDonald House, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Prevent Child Abuse America, Children's Miracle Network, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and PUSH America. Greeks at Queens go above and beyond in the area of service.
Athletics
As part of our mission to serve others, Queens Athletics encourages its student-athletes to actively participate in the Charlotte community. As ambassadors of Queens, student-athletes are encouraged to give their time and support to a variety of causes throughout the area. Coaches acknowledge and utilize the value of their teams' focus on serving the community and work to create connections with areas of high need.
Teams and individual student-athletes volunteer by mentoring elementary students visiting local hospitals, providing free sports lessons, and various other projects. Teams also work to raise awareness and funding for causes that have an impact at both the local and national level, including Play For Kay (breast cancer awareness) in women's basketball and Lax 4 Life (adolescent suicide awareness) in women's lacrosse.
"Queens consistently offers a helping hand and will offer their assistance in any capacity. They send volunteers to help our students, whether it is for tutoring, lunch buddy, garden club, or read-a-thon activities. They volunteer not only individually, but in large groups as well. Several of the sports teams have been very beneficial in working with our afterschool program." -Karen Arrington, family advocate at Sedgefield Elementary
Clubs and Organizations
Queens has over 70 clubs and organizations on campus. Many of these organizations champion a specific cause or effort. The Build 4 Cause club takes an trip each year to New Orleans to help rebuild the devastation that has taken place due to Hurricane Katrina as well as planned service trips to help Sandy victims. The human and community service club hosts multiple events on campus and around Charlotte. The Rotaract club has hosted walks in Myers Park to help and eliminate polio in the world. Student's passions around various issues are supported through our clubs and organization network.