Though Saint Louis University is locally known for its tradition of social justice and service, 2006 graduate Andrew Chappelle has taken these values on the road.

After earning his degree in Political Science with a minor in Communication, Chappelle traveled to New Orleans, China and West Bank to do a variety of social justice work, including teaching and working for a research institute. He made it back to St. Louis last August to begin a Masters Degree in International Relations at Webster University.

Currently Chappelle is in Baghdad, working in an American Red Cross field office. He handles emergency communications messages.

“The American Red Cross has been deployed with U.S. Forces since the Spanish American War,” Chappelle said. “The AMRC was chartered to provide a level of service to the military and contact service to families.”

Chappelle said that, while some service members use things like Google Talk to stay in frequent communication with those back home, others don’t talk to their families for weeks at a time.

His month-long training for the position consisted of working domestic cases. In addition, he has worked confirming facts with hospitals and funeral homes.

“We saw the big picture; some messages were more urgent than others, like deaths and the birth of children,” Chappelle said. “Families are so grateful. … Not being able to contact [family members] can be tough on people.”

Chapelle found out about his current job when he came across the position on the Internet.

“I found out about [the emergency communication opportunity] on idealist.org. It’s great for SLU students. If someone is looking to help a kid down the street or abroad it’s a good resource,” he said.

Though this aid-giving alumnus has now made a habit of doing service work, after leaving SLU, he was challenged by the complexities of the real world.

“While at SLU, it was normal to do service work and take part in protests,” Chapelle said. “Once you graduate you realize it’s not the norm. . I credit my decision to do anything worthwhile to SLU. I owe a lot to the education and indoctrination. I wasn’t brainwashed, I was forced to think in another way. Don’t think I am Mother Teresa.”

Chappelle’s advice for current students is to keep an open mind, and to take what they learn and use it outside of the classroom.

“If I had kept on my original plan, I would have been a business major,” he said. “SLU shaped me to become a person who wants to experience things, not just read about them in books.”