LECOM STUDENTS MAKE PRESIDENT’S HONOR ROLL
FOR DISTINGUISHED COMMUNITY SERVICE
The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine recently received
recognition from the Corporation for National & Community Service.
LECOM was named to two Presidential Honor Rolls – one for our
Hurricane Relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina and the other
for General Community Service. The awards are based on both the
quantity and quality of our community service efforts at both
campuses. In addition to the Hurricane Relief projects of fund
raising and volunteer hours, the Honor Roll recognizes LECOM Cares;
Bridging the Gaps; Mentoring Programs; Medicare Part D Enrollment
Day; Poison Prevention Programs; and Operation Prom (Bradenton).
Everyone at LECOM should be proud of the service that they have
provided to the community.
Chicago, Ill. – The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine
(LECOM) today was named to the first President’s Higher Education
Community Service Honor Roll for distinguished community service in
recognition of extraordinary volunteer efforts by the school and its
students to serve area neighborhoods and Gulf Coast communities
devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
LECOM and 140 other institutions of higher education were recognized
for distinguished service among the nearly 500 schools named to the
President’s Honor Roll at the Campus Compact 20th Anniversary today.
Schools receiving distinguished service recognition provided
exceptional community service over the past year, contributing their
time, resources, energy, skills – and intellect – to serve America.
“LECOM has set a strong example for college-level civic engagement,”
said Stephen Goldsmith, Chief Executive officer of the Corporation
for National and Community Service, the federal agency that works to
foster a culture of volunteering and service in America. “Many
people and communities have been improved because LECOM and its
students identified some of society’s most pressing needs and got
involved.”
The President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is
co-sponsored by the Corporation, 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
recognition is presented in cooperation with Campus Compact, a
national coalition of nearly 1,000 college and university
presidents, and supported by all the major national higher education
associations.
The award presentations come a day after the Corporation for
National and Community Service released a comprehensive study
showing college student civic engagement has risen significantly in
recent years. The study, which used data collected by the U.S.
Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that
student volunteering increased approximately 20 percent from 2002 to
2005, and that 3.3 million college students serve their communities
and nation. The study showed that college students between ages 16
to 24 are more likely to volunteer than cohorts in that age group
who are not enrolled.
Observers have attributed the growth in student service to several
causes: the proliferation of high-school and college
service-learning classes; an increase in the number of campus
offices that link students to volunteer opportunities, and the
lingering impact of the September 11 and Hurricane Katrina
catastrophes.
The Corporation for National and Community Service is working with
other federal agencies, higher education and student associations,
and nonprofit organizations to encourage even greater levels of
service and civic engagement by college students. Their goal is to
increase the number of college student participating in volunteer
service to 5 million college students annually by 2010.
The Honor Roll provides more new evidence that the nation is
beginning to move toward that level of student civic engagement.
More than 1.1 million students from Honor Roll schools participated
in local community service activities, and more than 219,000 Honor
Roll students provided hurricane relief.
A total of 492 institutions – including private and public schools,
four-year institutions, professional schools, and community colleges
– were named to the first Honor Roll. Those schools chronicled a
broad variety of service programs and activities that have
strengthened neighborhoods around them and in the Gulf region.
For their efforts, six schools received the President’s Honor Roll
top award. Elon University of North Carolina; California State
University, Monterey Bay; and Indiana University-Purdue University
Indianapolis received top honors for community service. Louisiana
State University, Tulane University, and Jackson State University
were recognized for providing outstanding hurricane relief.
Community service programs and activities included mentorship
programs for foster children, literacy tutoring for preschool
children in underserved communities, medical and other professional
services, homebuilding through Habitat for Humanity, and
neighborhood cleanup programs. Universities reported that college
students provided nearly 2.3 million service hours volunteering in
Hurricane Katrina relief. As one example, tens of thousands of
college students substituted work for fun during their winter and
spring breaks by traveling to the Gulf to gut homes, clear debris,
repair roofs, and paint buildings. The value of services provided by
Honor Roll colleges and students was approximately $87 million.
College student community service and civic engagement are key
elements of the new five-year strategic plan of the Corporation for
National and Community Service. Each year, the Corporation makes a
significant investment in building a culture of service on college
campuses through Learn and Serve America and AmeriCorps programs at
institutions of higher education. In addition to direct grants to
support service-learning and engagement of students in their
communities, the Corporation has also supported higher education
through the more than $1.2 billion in Segal AmeriCorps Education
Awards to AmeriCorps members who complete their service and use
their awards to pay for college tuition or to pay back student
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