McKendree On President’s Community Service Honor Roll Once Again
2/25/2010
Lebanon, Ill. – For a fourth consecutive year, McKendree University has been named
to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest
federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering,
service learning and civic engagement.
The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor
Roll award, recognized more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on
issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice.
McKendree is one of 26 Illinois colleges and universities, and one of only three in
southern Illinois, chosen for the Honor Roll. Six colleges and universities were Presidential
Awardees, with an additional 115 on the Distinction List and 621 schools named as
Honor Roll members.
Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including the 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.
“Community service is an important part of a McKendree education,” noted Dr. James
M. Dennis, university president. “We appreciate this recognition of our efforts to
incorporate service learning into our academic curriculum. We’re proud of our dedicated
students who volunteer thousands of hours in the community each semester.”
“We are thrilled to be selected once again for this honor,” added Dr. Lyn Huxford,
professor of sociology. “As coordinator of our Lyn Huxford Center for Community Service, I get to see and hear firsthand the incredible impact our volunteer programs have
on our students and our community partners. It is truly a privilege to share in McKendree’s
campus-wide commitment to civic engagement.”
The Lyn Huxford Center for Community Service and its student-led McKendree Community
Action Team coordinate a variety of volunteer activities throughout the school year.
Students tutor elementary school children, mentor disadvantaged youths, socialize
with nursing home residents, and help at animal shelters, hospices and food pantries.
“Into the Streets” community outreach activities are part of students’ introduction
to campus life. In March, several McKendree students and faculty members will take
an “alternative spring break” to Jamaica, where they will work with local residents
to build houses and help out at elementary schools.
McKendree was a finalist for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation
Award for Campus-Community Collaboration in 2008.
“Congratulations to McKendree University and its students for their dedication to
service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington,
CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Our nation’s students
are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent
challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value
of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service.”
College students make a significant contribution to the volunteer sector; in 2009,
3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service, according
to the Volunteering in America study released by the Corporation. Each year, the Corporation
invests more than $150 million in fostering a culture of service on college campuses
through grants awarded by its programs; the education awards that AmeriCorps members
receive at the conclusion of their term of service to pay for college; and through
support of training, research, recognition, and other initiatives to spur college
service.
The Corporation oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education,
the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council
on Education.
-McK-
