Monday, Feb 9, 2009
WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Corporation for National and Community Service honored Whitman College today with a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities.
“I’m delighted that Whitman is once again being recognized by the Community Service Honor Roll,” said Lina Menard ’05, coordinator of Whitman’s Center for Community Service. “I believe the level of engagement among Whitman students, faculty and staff demonstrates that our culture of care extends beyond out campus to the Walla Walla community.”
Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.
“Our student-led programs – The Story Time Project and the Mentor Program – were highlighted for their success in promoting early literacy and providing positive role models in 2007-2008,” said Menard. “Story Time intern Elena Gustafson ’10 and mentor interns Cassie Walters ’08, Andrea Seymour ’09, and Amy Strauss ’09 devoted themselves to improving the experience for both Whitman volunteers and the children. I’m glad their dedication has been celebrated.”
“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges. “We salute Whitman College for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others.”
A full list of honor roll colleges is available at nationalservice.gov.
The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is presented during the annual conference of the American Council on Education.
“I offer heartfelt congratulations to those institutions named to the 2008 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. College and university students across the country are making a difference in the lives of others every day – as are the institutions that encourage their students to serve others,” said American Council on Education President Molly Corbett Broad.
Recent studies have underlined the importance of service-learning and volunteering to college students. In 2006, 2.8 million college students gave more than 297 million hours of volunteer service, according to the corporation’s Volunteering in America 2007 study. Expanding campus incentives for service is part of a larger initiative to spur higher levels of volunteering by America’s college students. The corporation is working with a coalition of federal agencies, higher education and student associations, and nonprofit organizations to achieve this goal.
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations. For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov.
Contact: Lenel Parish, Whitman College News Service, (509) 527-5156 |
parishlj@whitman.edu
