Pitt students Michael Benton, a junior biochemistry major from Somerset, and Julie Hartline, a junior psychology major from Pittsburgh, were among five Pitt students who met President Bush on Aug. 5 as a result of their volunteer work with Jumpstart, a tutoring program that prepares children for school.

The students accompanied Bush in his motorcade to the Greentree Volunteer Fire Department, where the President met with the nine coal miners who were rescued recently from a Somerset mine. Bush called the student volunteers “soldiers in the armies of compassion.”

Jumpstart is just one of many volunteer opportunities available to Pitt students. The Student Volunteer Outreach (SVO), part of the Office of Student Affairs, engages students in assisting more than 180 community agencies. Students may select from a one-time service project; an ongoing volunteer commitment; or service learning programs, part of the Global Service Center, which places Pitt students in volunteer projects in foreign countries. For more information on student volunteer opportunities, visit the Web site, www.svo.pitt.edu.