The Campus Outreach Opportunity League (C.O.O.L.) was a United States national, non-profit organization founded to promote and support college student involvement in community service and social action. It was founded in 1984 by Wayne Meisel and Bobby Hackett. For twenty years COOL carried out a number of programs and strategies to fulfill its mission. COOL played a critical role in building the community service movement among college campuses throughout the United States. COOL worked with hundreds of colleges and universities to build, develop, and/or strengthen community service programs and service-learning efforts.

In addition, many of the individuals involved with COOL—particularly as staff—went on to play critical leadership roles throughout the national and community service movement. This movement or field was particularly boosted by federal policy to invest more in national and community service.

Throughout much of COOL's history, and due to a combination of factors, the organization frequently had difficulty securing sufficient financial resources. It faced near bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

 on a number of occasions. In 1994 the organization nearly ran out of funds. The entire national headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota was shut down approximately three weeks before the 1994 National Conference. A small group of conference staff based in Boston, continued to work through the conference. These were John Sarvey, Dawn Hutchison, Kim Lovelace, and Joel Jason Rodriguez. Ironically, the 1994 National Conference achieved the highest level of participation ever and ended with net revenues of $50,000.

As the board of directors of COOL weighed whether or not to close the organization in 1994. They decided to move it to Washington, DC. Youth Service America http://www.ysa.org provided office space and some key administrative support. The board appointed one of its own members, Jennifer Bastress as executive director and charged her with rebuilding the organization.

Melissa Kendrick period

Ariane Hoy and Dawn Hutchison period

Ariana Hoy period

In 2004, the leadership of COOL entered agreed to have the organization be acquired by Action Without Borders/Idealist.org. Although it was characterized as a "merger," it was in fact, a full acquisition. Financially COOL had more debt than assets. It lived on as the Idealist On Campus program of Action Without Borders. In 2007, Action Without Borders decided to discontinue the program.

The COOL National Conference

The only COOL program that continued throughout its twenty year history was its National Conference on Student Community Service, more commonly known as "the COOL Conference." Its first few years, it attracted a couple hundred students and administrators and it grew large when hosted by Fordham University, with more than 1,200 students and administrators attending. In similar years at UCLA, in New Orleans and then Orlando, multiple campuses hosted this large and dynamic event. The largest COOL Conference may have been in 2000 at Saint Anselm College when over 2,000 students attended the event.

This program also continued as part of the Idealist on Campus program within Action Without Borders. After AWB/Idealist.org decided to discontinue the program, a group of volunteers stepped forward to continue the conference as an all-volunteer organized event. Heather Cronk, who had served on the staff of Idealist On Campus and planned a number of conference in that capacity, and Abby Kiesa, from CIRCLE led the volunteer organizing effort. John Sarvey, who had served as the National Conference Director for COOL from 1991 to 1994 joined the volunteer effort and arranged to have Northeastern University hosted the next conference. The planning committee re-branded it "IMPACT: National Student Conference on Community Service, Advocacy, and Social Action."
In 2009 the conference was hosted by the University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

 and in 2010, the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. The next conference, in 2011, will be hosted by Stetson University

Stetson University

Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I-4 corridor in Central Florida. The primary undergraduate campus is located in DeLand, Florida, USA. In the 2012 U.S...

.

PAST AND UPCOMING HOST CAMPUSES

1985: Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 -- Cambridge, Massachusetts

1986: Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 -- Providence, Rhode Island

1987: Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 -- Washington, DC

1988: Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 -- Palo Alto, California

1989: Fordham University

Fordham University

Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...

 -- Bronx, New York

1990: University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

 -- Los Angeles, California

1991: Dillard University

Dillard University

Dillard University is a private, historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 incorporating earlier institutions that went back to 1869, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church....

, Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

, Xavier University, SUNO, others—New Orleans, Louisiana

1992: Rollins College

Rollins College

Rollins College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Winter Park, Florida , along the shores of Lake Virginia....

, University of Central Florida

University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...

, Valencia Community College

Valencia Community College

Valencia College, formerly known as Valencia Community College, is a public state college in Orlando, Florida, United States. Valencia is the third-largest member institution of the Florida College System....

 -- Orlando, Florida

1993: University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign -- Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

1994: University of Massachusetts Boston

University of Massachusetts Boston

The University of Massachusetts Boston, also known as UMass Boston, is an urban public research university and the second largest campus in the five-campus University of Massachusetts system. The university is located on on Harbor Point in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States...

 – Boston, Massachusetts

1995: Arizona State University

Arizona State University

Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...

 -- Tempe, Arizona

1996: George Washington University

George Washington University

The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...

 -- Washington, DC

1997: Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...

 -- Cleveland, Ohio

1998: University of South Carolina

University of South Carolina

The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...

 -- Columbia, South Carolina

1999: University of Utah

University of Utah

The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

 -- Salt Lake City, Utah

2000: Saint Anselm College

Saint Anselm College

Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...

 -- Goffstown, New Hampshire

2001: Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 -- Cambridge, Massachusetts

2002: Morehouse College

Morehouse College

Morehouse College is a private, all-male, liberal arts, historically black college located in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with Hampden-Sydney College and Wabash College, Morehouse is one of three remaining traditional men's colleges in the United States....

 -- Atlanta, Georgia

2003: Cleveland State University

Cleveland State University

Cleveland State University is a public university located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 when the state of Ohio assumed control of Fenn College, and it absorbed the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1969...

 -- Cleveland, Ohio

2004: University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2005: University of California-Berkeley -- Berkeley, California

2006: Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 -- Nashville, Tennessee

2007: DePaul University

DePaul University

DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...

 -- Chicago, Illinois

2008: Northeastern University – Boston, Massachusetts

2009: University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

, Maryland

2010: University of Arkansas, Little Rock – Little Rock, Arkansas

2011: Stetson University

Stetson University

Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I-4 corridor in Central Florida. The primary undergraduate campus is located in DeLand, Florida, USA. In the 2012 U.S...

 - Deland, Florida

Other Significant Programs

• "Road Warriors"
• Mixing It Up
• Teaming Up
• Into the Streets, which many college campuses still do in the Fall
• Road Scholars Program
• COOL Leaders
• COOL Cities

Executive Directors of COOL

• Wayne Meisel
• Julia Scatliff
• Bill Hoogterp
• Kristen Parrish
• Jennifer Bastress
• Melissa Kendrick
• Ariane Hoy

Board Chairs of COOL

• John Wallace
• Maura Wolf
• John Beilenson
• Bobby Hackett
• Robert Gianinno

Other Notable Former Staff Members of COOL

Frank Barnes http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/node/3106
Developed and led a national affinity group of African American student leaders at COOL

Carol Bowar
Edith Buhs http://www.linkedin.com/ppl/webprofile?vmi=&id=405949&pvs=pp&authToken=63lK&authType=name&locale=en_US&trk=ppro_viewmore&lnk=vw_pprofile

Arrington Chambliss
served as Outreach Director, led launch of Into the Streets program, developed and managed the Road Scholars Program

Adam Grauer served as COOL Cities Coordinator and led its pilot in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, from 2001-02 prior to the merger with Idealist.

Dawn Hutchison

Lloyd Jacobson, National Programs Director (1995-1998) - Oversaw creation of COOL's initial online strategy and the development of COOL Leaders training program.

Louisa Meacham

Marc Osman, Director of Administration and Technology (1998–2000)
improved the organization's infrastructure and promoted the COOL website and various publications

Jason Miller served as National Conference Director (1999-2000) - Added a focus on student political activism to the COOL Conference. He brought the controversial William Upski Wimsatt

William Upski Wimsatt

William Wimsatt, also known as Billy or Upski is a social entrepreneur, author, political organizer, and former graffiti artist...

 to give a keynote address at the 2000 Conference where he likened community service to a temporary fix like "chap stik" causing several students to turn their chairs to the back of the room in protest.

Joel Rittle
served as Associate Programs Director (1993–1994) and National Meetings Outreach Director (1995)

John Sarvey
Served as National Meetings Director (1991–1994), Managing Director (1993)http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=15131&authToken=rcgd&authType=NAME_SEARCH&locale=en_US&srchindex=1&pvs=ps&goback=%2Efps_john+sarvey_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_Y_*1_*1_*1_false_1_R_true_G%2CN%2CCC%2CI%2CPC%2CED%2CFG%2CL%2CDR_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2(Executive Director, School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs, Northeastern University)

Karen Young
Served as National Meetings Director (1990–1991), Communications Director (1991–1993)Youth On Board

Youth On Board

Youth On Board, or YOB, was founded in 1994 and is an internationally-recognized U.S. nonprofit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. The organization promotes youth voice and youth involvement in schools and community organizations across the country. It was founded and is co-directed by...

(Founder and Director of Youth on Board)

Papers Written About COOL

Stern, Rachael. "Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL)." Graduate Student, Grand Valley State University.

Papers and Books with References to COOL

Krehbiel, Lee E. and MacKay, Kathleen. "Volunteer Work by Undergraduates 1988 - ERIC Digest."
(ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, Washington DC, 1988)

Crews, Robin Jeffrey. Higher Education Service-learning Sourcebook. (Oryx Press, 2002)