DPU recognized for commitment to service again

Friday, February 13, 2009

DePauw University is being recognized for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement by being named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. In all, 635 institutions of higher learning were listed on the Honor Roll for their community service activities during the 2007-08 academic year

DePauw was also listed on last year's Honor Roll.

Launched in 2006, the Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and is sponsored by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation and the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

"In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever," says Nicola Goren, acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges. We salute these universities for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others."

"I offer heartfelt congratulations to those institutions named to the 2008 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll," adds Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education. "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."

The Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees were chosen based on the scope and innovation of their service projects, percentage of students participating in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the schools offer academic service-learning courses.

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. Using Independent Sector's estimates of the value of volunteer time, college student volunteering was worth more than $5.6 billion last year.

The 2007 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) found that by the time DePauw students are seniors, 92 percent have participated in community service or volunteer work.

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