Roughly 35 Oglethorpe students recently teamed up with other Atlanta universities in the annual 404 Day of Service, beautifying historic Washington Park with a trash pick-up.
404 Day is a celebration of the vibrant culture and community in Atlanta with a series of events, including a festival in Piedmont Park. The day of service included the trash pick-up, a food drive, and community activities like kickball and soccer.
Assistant Director of Athletics for Operations Cindy Vaios has organized Oglethorpe’s participation each year. What started as an event limited to student-athletes garnered much interest from non-athletes, making Oglethorpe’s presence at the event even stronger.
Hundreds of students came together for the volunteer opportunity, coming from the following schools:
- Atlanta Metropolitan State College
- Clark Atlanta University
- Emory University
- Georgia State University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Morris Brown College
- Morehouse College
- Oglethorpe University
- Spelman College
Morgan Phillips ’26 volunteered for the event and enjoyed interacting with the community in fun activities the most.
“When I think of a service project, they can sometimes be grueling tasks, but to be able to play kickball with some of the community kids and see their smile when they scored was so much fun,” says the biology major. “It’s always so rewarding to see that I have an impact on a community and a city that has had such an incredible impact on me during my college experience.”
404 Day of Service is among the many Atlanta experiences Oglethorpe students can have. It serves as an opportunity to appreciate the city better while meeting new people.
“It’s really cool to go out with other university students to improve the Atlanta community! It’s always fun to see my Oglethorpe peers, and even my teammates, outside of the normal settings and working together to improve a place we all call home,” says Phillips. “We also hear of the bigger schools like Georgia Tech or Emory, and it’s always a good time to connect with university students we normally wouldn’t interact with when we all come together for a common cause.”
