Clemson University named to President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll

Published: March 17, 2010

CLEMSON — For the third year in a row, Clemson University has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice.

Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses. See http://www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll for a full list of Honor Roll recipients.

“Being named to the Honor Roll is an incredible acknowledgement of Clemson’s commitment to service,” said Jennifer Shurley, associate director of civic engagement. “We are very proud of the many ways that our students contribute to the betterment of our local community and beyond.”

Last year, more than 10,500 Clemson students engaged in some form of service-learning activity or community service, spending a total of more than 126,300 hours volunteering.

Clemson was recognized for such programs as the camps at the Outdoor Lab that serve children who are underprivileged or who have special needs; the Be A TIGER program in which student-athletes work with elementary and middle school students on character development; the blood drives held by Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity; the FIRST Program that helps first-generation college students in science, technology, engineering and math majors; the Emerging Scholars program that seeks to increase the number of college students from economically disadvantaged areas; and ClemsonLIFE, a two-year program for young adults with intellectual disabilities that helps them develop independent-living and employment skills.

“Congratulations to Clemson and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Our nation’s students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service.”

The Corporation of National and Community Service oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

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Corporation for National and Community Service
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call-to-service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, see www.nationalservice.gov.