Penn State DuBois was named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). This designation is the highest honor a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. This is the third year in a row the campus has made this prestigious list.
"Service learning is a wonderful framework that links classroom learning to community engagement. At Penn State DuBois, we prepare our students to be active stewards of our global community through service-learning projects," said Chancellor Melanie Hatch. "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."
Penn State DuBois was admitted to the honor roll for its work in community service, education, environmental stewardship and more. Penn State DuBois students have made mission trips to tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo., and the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Students recently travelled to New York where they aided cleanup efforts following Superstorm Sandy. In the past, Penn State DuBois students were also among those who traveled to the Gulf Coast to help rebuild communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Students also participate in the Martin Luther King Day of Service each year, when they spend the holiday volunteering with charities. Additionally, club events such as an annual haunted house and Breakfast with Santa provide family entertainment in the community, while raising funds for local causes.
"Congratulations to Penn State DuBois, faculty, staff and students for their commitment to service, both in and out of the classroom," said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS. "Through this 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 www.nationalservice.gov.