KU among higher ed institutions honored for community service


LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas was named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction. This designation is the highest honor a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. This is KU’s first year to be recognized with distinction and seventh consecutive year on the honor roll.

“KU has a long history of service and believes strongly in preparing our graduates to be active leaders and participants in an ever-changing world,” said Andi Witczak, director of the Center for Civic and Social Responsibility. “We’re honored to receive this prestigious award – and owe much of it to the students themselves. They’re the energy driving our commitment, and they’re the ones who make it all happen.”

KU’s commitment to service is evidenced through many organizations and efforts. Alternative Breaks is a student-run organization that provides approximately 600 KU undergraduates with immersive volunteer experiences each year. The Center for Community Outreach, an organization made up of 14 student-run programs focusing on issues such as hunger and homelessness, youth mentoring, English literacy, and more, averages 1,053 volunteers and 16,678 hours of recorded service. The KU Advocacy Corps builds connections between KU and nonprofit organizations that serve the surrounding city and county, and it maintains an average of 40 advocate-nonprofit partnerships per year.

“Congratulations to the University of Kansas, its faculty and students for its commitment to service, both in and out of the classroom,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS. “Through its work, institutions of higher education are helping improve their local communities and create a new generation of leaders by challenging students to go beyond the traditional college experience and solve local challenges.”

Inspired by the thousands of college students who traveled across the country to support relief efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, CNCS has administered the award since 2006 and manages the program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the American Council on Education and Campus Compact.

More information on eligibility and the full list of Honor Roll awardees can be found at nationalservice.gov

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university's mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world. The KU News Service is the central public relations office for the Lawrence campus.

The President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll honors the nation’s leading higher education institutions and their students, faculty and staff for their commitment to bettering their communities through service. These are institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities.

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund and other programs, and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve.

 

Thu, 05/02/2013

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Jessica Pauly

Media Contacts

Jessica Pauly

Center for Civic and Social Responsibility

785-864-0960