Graduating George Washington University engineering student Jack Hatcher was the kind of child who would pick apart his toys and then piece them back together. “My parents didn’t love that,” he joked. Naturally, it was civil engineering he’d pursue once he got to college.
But what his parents did do was instill the value of serving others and giving back to the community, something Hatcher did frequently growing up in Hagerstown, Md.
When he arrived at GW, he realized there was an opportunity to combine those two passions and become someone who uses community driven and scientific solutions to create positive societal changes. Through his studies in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and various volunteer opportunities through the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, Hatcher discovered that he could use science and engineering as a vehicle to helping other people.
“My overall end goal is to go to law school for environmental law and help people to mitigate all the environmental hardships that different communities are facing through science, because you can combine the two,” said Hatcher, who is also concentrating in environmental engineering while minoring in political science. “Getting to GW is really where that came from.”
Hatcher immersed himself in a plethora of service opportunities that led him down this path. He first started volunteering as a first-year student at Miriam’s Kitchen, where he developed a respect for people’s backgrounds to better understand the different perspectives within a community.
Using this knowledge, Hatcher joined Engineers Without Borders and began working on a project in Uganda that was ultimately interrupted by the COVID-19 shutdown. But, as he did with his toys when he was much younger, Hatcher resurrected the original structure.
After assembling an entirely new group of peers to build the project back up, he and fellow group leader and engineering student Isabella Elmore traveled to Yumbe, Uganda, to raise funds, design and implement a community learning center. While there, they worked with community members to develop needs and asset assessments to figure out what this learning center might look like.
They were humbled by the amount of people in Yumbe who showed up to offer input, and they talked to prominent figures such as the county’s head of education, local schools and even the town chief.
Through these assessments, they determined that the community center should expand upon an already existing but outdated library by building computer labs and playgrounds so children could be occupied while adults got their work done. They found the experience invaluable, and they are now in the design phase of the project.
“To be able to talk to people on different backgrounds and understanding that the community center that we're building has a place within each of their lives was really cool,” said Hatcher, who will hand the project off to Elmore after his graduation on May 19.
Hatcher, a Clinton Global Initiative University Scholar, has also been a community engagement team leader with A Wider Circle, a poverty-alleviating nonprofit. There, he has helped develop a curriculum where participants are able to develop their own initiatives and projects that help the people they serve.
One such project was developing ChatGPT prompts to assist writing cover letters and resumes. Another was a workshop on how to use LinkedIn, everything from setting up an account to dealing with the emotional capacity of seeing other people’s success on the website.
In addition, Hatcher has helped A Wider Circle organize clothing and sorting drives. Last year, Hatcher was a part of an effort that collected 420 pounds of clothes. In the coming weeks, Hatcher and other volunteers from various organizations will partner with Sustainability GW and collect clothes from Green Move Out.
“This year, we want to hit 1,000 pounds,” Hatcher said. “It’s a big goal, but that’s what all this detergent is for. It’s a cross-program initiative, so we’re leading with A Wider Circle but have volunteers from EngageDC and SMARTDC helping us out, as well.”
Hatcher, who was a congressional intern for Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), has also appreciated some of the immersive classroom experiences that have tied service and science together. Specifically, he valued what he learned in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences Assistant Professor Maranda Ward’s applied health equity class, where he had an opportunity to work with D.C. Central Kitchen in wards 7 and 8.
He will attend graduate school for civil and environmental engineering at GW and continue working as a research associate with D.C. Water, where he will complete his thesis project.
GW Serves is a series featuring students who are living out the university’s mission to build up public service leaders and active citizens to create a better world.
