Many of the activities in which Weil took part while at Horace Mann reinforced the lessons about the importance of social service she had already absorbed from her family. In a letter written in the winter of her senior year, Weil described—with a characteristic combination of enthusiasm and humor—a particularly inspiring lecture she had recently heard:

The lecture on Tuesday was a talk by Mrs. Ballyngton Boothe. I never heard any one talk so beautifully. When she gets through you felt like joining the Volunteers first thing. She dwelt especially upon the prison work. She is certainly a wonderful woman, and since seeing and hearing her, I don't wonder that any body—prisoners or anybody else—confides everything to her. At the reception of the Social Club afterward I had the honor of being presented & shaking hands with her. I also had some burnt chocolate & some cold tea at the same reception.

In subsequent years, Weil herself would inspire many members of a younger generation to join in similar work for the public good.