Posted - May 23, 2011

Eureka College Receives National Recognition for Community Service

2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll

Eureka College has been named to the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The Corporation for National and Community Service awards the recognition to institutions of higher education for their support of volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

“Eureka College is ecstatic to have the community service efforts of our students and campus community be recognized by receiving this award,” said Tamara Kerkemeyer, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer who assists the college with civic engagement projects.

“This is the first time in recent years that Eureka College has applied for inclusion on the honor roll, and in the application we chose to highlight three of our many philanthropic projects,” Kerkemeyer said. The projects are the annual Maroon and Golden Rule service day in which students assist Eureka residents with spring clean-up, the December Angel Tree Party for area children and the annual Up ‘til Dawn project that has raised more than $100,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Center over five years.

A total of 641 colleges and universities are included on the honor roll for their impact on issues from literacy and neighborhood revitalization to supporting at-risk youth. Of that total, 511 were named to the honor roll, 114 received the recognition of honor roll with distinction, 11 were identified as finalists, and six received the Presidential Award, which is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to community service.

Criteria for inclusion on the honor roll include the scope and innovation of service projects, the extent to which service-learning is embedded in the curriculum, the school’s commitment to long-term campus-community partnerships and measurable community outcomes as a result of the service.

A total of 851 institutions applied for the 2010 honor roll, a 9-percent increase over last year, a sign of the growing interest by colleges and universities in highlighting their efforts to engage students in making a difference in the community, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service.                                                                                                            

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Barack Obama’s national call-to-service initiative, United We Serve.

For more information -

NationalService.gov >

Click here to find the entire Honor Roll >

-30-

Contact:

Michele Lehman

Media Relations Coordinator

mlehman@eureka.edu

(309) 467-6318