Stags on a Mission: How Fairfield’s Commitment to Service Adds Up

When it comes to community outreach, the numbers tell an impressive story—but the most powerful impact can’t be measured.

Whether lending a hand at local beach clean-ups or engaging in global humanitarian work, Stags are living their mission well beyond campus borders. Across neighborhoods and organizations, Fairfield students, faculty, and staff dedicate tens of thousands of hours each year to serving others through volunteerism, mentorship, and advocacy. The 2024-25 statistics that follow reflect the extraordinary reach of that commitment, while the photographs reveal the heart and humanity of the work.

Athletes In Action

Fairfield’s student-athletes balance demanding academic and sports schedules while dedicating thousands of hours to our community. Last year, 475 Division I student-athletes gave 4,022 hours of their time in partnership with 17 regional organizations. From reading days at local schools to sports clinics, clean-ups, and beyond, their commitment on and off the field reflects the character, teamwork, and purpose that define the Stag spirit.

622 student participants in 21 club sports volunteered an additional 1,507 hours with 11 local partners. Together, these teammates exemplify what it means to compete with purpose—using their talents not only to win games, but to uplift others and strengthen the community they proudly represent.

Campus Ministry Outreach

Campus Ministry connects students with ongoing and single-experience volunteer opportunities, matching their passions with real community needs. In 2024 alone, more than 4,200 meals were donated to Bridgeport’s Prospect House, continuing a 35-year partnership and contributing to an estimated 150,000 meals served over that time.

The Pencil Pals program connects 100 undergraduates each year with 100 young pen pals at Bryant Elementary School in Bridgeport, Conn., fostering literacy and positive relationships.

Center for Social Impact

At the heart of the Center for Social Impact’s mission is the belief that students learn most deeply when they engage the world around them—developing the skills and moral responsibility to become agents of positive change.

At the Fifth Annual Humanitarian Action Spring Filter Build in April 2025, students rolled up their sleeves and assembled 70 water filtration kits. Over the past five years, the club has raised nearly $25,000 to construct more than 400 water filters, each providing a family with clean water for up to ten years. The initiative serves victims of U.S. floods and hurricanes as well as communities in developing nations.

Through several Special Education minor courses, students also partner with local programs that support individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. 109 students from the School of Education and Human Development’s Special Education program worked with 30 local schools and 8 community organizations in Fairfield and Westport.

Spiritual, Health & Human Services

Fairfield’s Jesuit Catholic mission comes to life through programs that nurture mind, body and spirit. The Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality’s approximately 60 spiritual directors welcomed 626 community members for one-on-one spiritual direction. The two-year Spiritual Director Formation program advanced 16 candidates toward program completion in December 2025.

Fairfield’s Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program is ranked #1 in Connecticut by marriagefamilytherapy.org, a leading online resource for the field. The program’s on-campus clinic, the Koslow Center for Marriage and Family Therapy, provided affordable counseling to 55 families, ensuring access to compassionate care regardless of ability to pay.

Beach Cleanups

Since fall of 2024, students have gathered in the beach area on Sunday mornings with gloves and trash bags in hand, ready to clear debris along the shoreline and neighboring streets. What began decades ago as a grassroots effort among student beach residents has evolved into a cherished Fairfield tradition of stewardship and camaraderie.

Community & Economic Impact Report

Add it all up, and the equation is clear: thousands of hours, countless lives touched, and one shared mission—to be people for and with others.

Learn more about the many ways the University engages with purpose throughout our community in our new 2024–25 Fairfield University Community & Economic Impact Report, highlighting the full scope of our community engagement and economic impact.

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