Urbana University Receives President’s Honor Roll Award for Service
School Honored for Distinguished Community Service

Urbana, Ohio– The Corporation for National and Community Service named Urbana University to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth.

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 innovativeness 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.

Urbana University established the Service Learning program in 2001 with the vision of giving students the opportunity to participate, from the freshman through their senior classes and within all academic majors. The University Vision emphasizes the importance of student involvement in the community as well as in the classroom, “ Urbana University prepares students for a lifetime of leadership and service to society through excellent classroom instruction, real world experiences, community partnerships, and technology.” Service Learning is envisioned as an opportunity to meet community needs while allowing students to reflect on this service activity, gain further understanding of their course, a broad application of their discipline and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility through community service.

Under the leadership of Archer Thomas, Director of Service Learning at Urbana University, students, faculty, and staff have volunteered for over 1,200 hours in the community over the last year.  Participants helped with tutoring programs, at animal shelters, in churches, and in homes throughout the local area. Two of the major efforts this past year focused on the larger community; the Urbana University Relay for Life and Hurricane Katrina Relief.

A year-long effort of fundraiser culminated in our own Relay for Life event supported by the entire University community that raised over $10,000 to support cancer research. During the year, students raised awareness of many issues related to cancer including prevention, screening, and coping with loss.

A group of students initiated and planned two trips to Gulf Port, Mississippi to help in the relief effort from the damage and devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. While in Mississippi, students built fences, refurbished homes, took back overgrown neighborhoods and fed hundreds in the local soup kitchen. Students rejuvenated a depleted and exhausted volunteer staff as well as led praise and worship services.

“College students are tackling the toughest problems in America, demonstrating their compassion, commitment, and creativity in by serving as mentors, tutors, health workers, and even engineers,” Eisner said. “They represent a renewed spirit of civic engagement fostered by outstanding leadership on caring campuses.”

The Honor Roll is jointly sponsored by the Corporation, through its Learn and Serve America program, and the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

In congratulating the winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, “Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country.”

Overall, the Community Service Honor Roll awarded six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, four schools were recognized as Special Achievement Award winners, 127 as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 391 schools as Honor Roll members. In total, 528 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

“There is no question that the universities and colleges who have made an effort to participate and win the Honor Roll award are themselves being rewarded,” said American Council on Education President David Ward. “Earning this distinction is not easy. But now each of these schools will be able to wear this award like a badge of honor.”

The Honor Roll is jointly sponsored by the Corporation, through its Learn and Serve America program, and the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

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 http://www.nationalservice.gov .