Computer science professor Larry Dowdy takes time out of the classroom to give back

by Joan Brasher
photo by Steve Green

Among the dozen or so bright-eyed young people who loaded their luggage onto a van and headed for an Alternative Spring Break site in New Hampshire last month was a tall figure with a shock of silver hair and a kind, weathered face.

Alternative Spring Break, or ASB, is a volunteer experience in which college students spend their spring break week at community service sites around the country in lieu of heading home or hitting the beach to relax. Larry Dowdy stands out in a typical ASB crowd because he is not, after all, a student.

A professor of computer science and computer engineering at Vanderbilt since 1981, Dowdy has a Ph.D. from Duke University and teaches courses in the areas of operating systems and performance analysis. Each year he spends his spring break working at one of the ASB sites, where he is usually the only faculty member among the student volunteers.

After 17 ASB trips, Dowdy is used to being the senior member of the group. But even though he’s Vanderbilt faculty, he’s not there to lead or advise. Instead, Dowdy is simply there to serve as any other participant.

Dowdy’s involvement with ASB began in 1991, when one of his students invited him to join a group volunteering in rural Crossville, Tenn.

“The organization was just a few years old at the time, and then-Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt actually came and visited the Crossville site and saw the impact the experience was having on the students,” Dowdy said. “The people we visited were living in poverty. We cleaned out shacks and talked with the people living there. It was an eye-opening experience.”

Since then, Dowdy has traveled from Juneau, Alaska, to New York City to Big Cabin, Okla., with ASB to tackle the issues of poverty, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, brain injury, immigrant settlement, organic farming and animal preservation. He said his inspiration for community service is rooted in his agrarian childhood. The son of a beef cattle farmer, he grew up in Michigan and South Georgia and learned at an early age to work hard and be thankful for his good fortune.

“I’ve always been involved in community service activities – it’s just a part of recognizing what you’ve been given,” he said. “It’s always kind of been a part of me, whether it’s been through church or community organizations.”

His past ASB trips include traveling to Union, W.Va., his grandparents’ hometown.

“I spent a lot of time in Union growing up so it was difficult to view that area as poor,” he said. “I remember my grandparents didn’t have indoor plumbing, but we just didn’t think about it.” He also has worked with children on American Indian reservations, and in coastal areas helping to preserve endangered turtles.

“Every year I just ask where I am needed, and that’s where I go,” he said.

Dowdy’s most recent ASB trip took place in March when he road-tripped with a dozen students to the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center in Greenfield, N.H., a residential living-learning community for individuals with disabilities. Dowdy was assigned to the brain injury center, where people who have sustained brain damage by way of birth defect, car accident, stroke or drug abuse live, work and receive care.

“A big part of what we did as volunteers was sit with the clients and listen to their stories,” he said. “Some had been there for years, others just a few months. We got coffee for them, helped them eat, or just hung out.”

A highlight was an evening of watching The Lion King, eating popcorn and singing karaoke with the clients. “The music was blaring and we danced with people who were in wheelchairs. It was so much fun. You begin to question your perception of ‘normal’ in a situation like that. Your inhibitions just go away. It’s a powerful experience.”

An important element of ASB is taking time to reflect and share throughout the week.

“We came together at the end of each night and stayed up talking until 2 or 3 in the morning,” Dowdy said. “You can’t talk enough about it – to share what you’ve seen and how it’s impacted you.”

The Vanderbilt students who joined Dowdy at the New Hampshire site viewed him as just another participant – albeit one with more service experience and valuable life lessons to share.

“Larry was beating college students who were 30-plus years his junior at a game of basketball,” said Matt Rotenberry, a senior from Oakland, N.J. “He also was a source of wisdom and advice as he shared his experiences in a manner typically reserved for interactions with trusted family members.”

“One thing I admired most about Larry was how he was such a quiet servant,” said Kaitlyn Ramon, a sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga. “He would help clean up trash or get up early to make waffles for everyone. Larry was amazing, and you could tell he truly had so much fun and loved to serve.”

Dowdy, a married father of two with a grandchild, has carried his love of community service onto Vanderbilt’s campus, where he is involved with the One Laptop Per Child initiative as well as Engineers Without Borders.

“In my normal life, I am just into my teaching, research and administration, and it’s easy as the years go by to become somewhat cynical about life,” Dowdy said. “Alternative Spring Break is a chance for me to spend a week with students who are committed to giving back, and that’s invigorating.

“You go into it thinking you are going to help people, but it’s really you who benefits,” he said. “It’s you who is changed.”

Posted 04/01/09