Messenger - Vol. 4, No. 2, Page 16
1995
Young humanitarian named to All-USA College Academic First Team

Michael J. Skinner is a medical scholars/liberal studies major who
hopes to become a pediatrician or family practice doctor and manages
to maintain a 3.9 grade point average while doing volunteer work for
numerous organizations.


     Wouldn't it be nice if one day everyone woke up and decided they
would do something for someone else? Just think how many problems
would be solved. It would be amazing," says Michael J. Skinner, a
University of Delaware junior from Olney, Md.
     Skinner speaks with the practicality of the '90s, not the
idealism of the Age of Aquarius, and it is just that practical
approach to problem solving that has made him one of 20 undergraduates
from across the nation to be selected to USA Today's 1995 All-USA
College Academic First Team.
     Skinner, a student in the University Honors Program, is known as
a humanitarian, an actor and an A student. A medical scholars/liberal
studies major who hopes to become a pediatrician or family practice
doctor, he manages to maintain a 3.9 grade point average while doing
volunteer work for numerous organizations.
     Through the University's Medical Scholars Program, he has already
been accepted into medical school at Jefferson University Hospital in
Philadelphia, where he will enroll upon graduation from UD. He is a
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow conducting research with mutant
chicken embryos as a model of the human metabolism problems that might
lead to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and, over the recent
Winter Session, he held an internship in the Office of the Medical
Examiner of Delaware. Only time constraints prevent him from remaining
active in University student theatre groups.
     For Kathleen Duke, associate director of the University Honors
Program, Skinner's range of abilities is truly impressive. "What makes
Michael so special is that he is so gifted, so community-minded and so
creative. At the same time, he's also funny, charming and a joy to
work with."
     Skinner is the founder and co-president of IMPACT: The Service
Community, a student organization dedicated to community service and
making a difference in people's lives. Most members of IMPACT live
together in the University's Ray Street Special Interest Housing,
where they spend their spare time in projects like delivering blankets
to Wilmington's street people, tutoring at Newark's high school and a
local elementary school, working weekly with Emmaus House (a Newark
shelter for women and children), providing assistance and
companionship to students with handicaps, working with the Delaware
Food Bank and participating in numerous walkathons and fund-raisers
for other nonprofit organizations. Last October, USA Weekend
recognized the group's program, "Homecoming for the Homeless," as part
of its coverage of Make A Difference Day.
     Like many college students, the members of the group traveled to
Florida over spring break. The difference is that IMPACT members spent
their time rebuilding houses for victims of last year's hurricane,
with other Habitat For Humanity volunteers.
     Skinner has been and continues to be at the forefront of it all.
     "We all support each other in areas of community service," he
explains. "Sometimes, it's hard to find people interested in your
cause, and it can be daunting to organize a project on your own.
Living at Ray Street, you know that the people right next door will
pitch in. We can take on all kinds of things that we couldn't do as
individuals."
     As a member of the USA Today First Team, Skinner and the other
winners each received a $2,500 cash award.
                                                          -Beth Thomas