idealist.org

1984-1989

1990-1995

1996-1999

2000-2004

In 1984, C.O.O.L. Founder Wayne Meisel, in a fashion reminiscent of the early Americans, created a pamphlet on youth involvement in civic action and embarked on a journey, by foot, to 70 campuses from Maine to Washington, D.C. to spread the word about college student involvement in communities. Several months later, Wayne found himself deeply knowledgeable about the growing work and passionate interests of students, faculty, staff, and others on college campuses in improving communities and our nation. Campus Outreach Opportunity League (C.O.O.L.) - a name that pointed to the founders' desire to create a league for service that attracted the same kind of following as the NCAA - was born.

With a grant from the Hazen Foundation in October 1984, C.O.O.L. was off and running. Its aim was to provide an organized, year-round effort to promote and support students to be involved in community service. At its first official National Conference in April 1985, 125 students and college administrators from 25 campuses met at Harvard University to form a national community of student leaders. That tradition has never died. C.O.O.L.'s National Conference still convenes annually, with an average of 1,500 participants per year offering student leaders the opportunity to lead and participate in hundreds of thought-provoking and inspiring workshops on everything from Arts and Social Change to Zambia and the Impact of Globalization on Africa.

In its first year, C.O.O.L. operated out of Dwight Hall at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Many of the early years were spent on the road, with energetic staffers fully engaged in campus outreach and sparking the creation of on-campus service programs and other infrastructure for student community involvement. In June of 1986, with an eye on participating in lobbying for legislation to support the national service movement, C.O.O.L. established its national office in Washington, D.C. with Youth Service America.

As C.O.O.L. picked up steam, it began its efforts to truly catalyze a movement of college students to get involved through community service, which was a great starting point because of its inclusive, nonpartisan, active appeal. In the fall of 1987, C.O.O.L. moved its national headquarters to the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. There it began the Into the Streets planning that would impact hundreds of campuses, helping them to establish a culture of service and broad-based projects for students which still remain today.