The 40-year-old Cooperative Institutional Research Project Freshman Survey found that entering college freshman show a “distinctive and widespread” commitment to social justice and civic responsibility, USA Today reports. Researchers attribute this to the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and Hurricane Katrina. “Last year’s natural disasters impacted these freshmen in a significant way,” said the survey’s director.
“These new data should encourage educators to redouble their efforts to create new connections between academic study and challenges in larger society,” advised the head of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.