The Corporation for National and Community Service announced that Lee University has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, once again receiving recognition for its commitment to bettering the community through service.
“Receiving this honor indicates that our students and faculty are engaging in transformative service with our community partners according to service-learning experts around the country,” said Dr. Mike Hayes, vice president for Lee’s Student Development. “This is an exciting part of achieving the Lee mission in Cleveland and around the world.”
Service-learning at Lee University is guided by the Leonard Center and is designed to prepare students for Christian citizenship through reflective community interactions that encourage a commitment to the ideals of service, benevolence, civic virtue, and social justice.
According to Dr. Hayes, Lee students have committed more than 74,500 hours of service this year, developing and managing innovative programs that resulted from the combined efforts of the faculty and more than 3,500 students.
“Since 2006, Lee has been listed among the President’s Higher Education Honor Roll recipients,” said William Lamb, director of Lee’s Leonard Center. “While this award identifies the good work of students and faculty, our celebration includes community partners. Lee students are able to impact the community and the world because of our relationship with hundreds of education and non-profit organizations. Without these partnerships, our community outreach would be limited.”
The President’s Higher Education Service Honor Roll, launched in 2006, annually highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement recognizing institutions that achieve meaningful, measureable outcomes in the communities they serve, said officials.
Lee was one of only 91 colleges and universities honored with the General Community Service Award with distinction, which “recognizes the quality of, quantity of, and commitment to community service initiatives at a college or university.” Schools may be listed on the Honor Roll in four categories: general community service, early childhood education, promise neighborhoods, and summer learning.
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads the President's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information about the CNCS, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/.
For more information about service-learning at Lee, visit http://leeuniversity.edu/service-learning/ or contact the Leonard Center at 614-8614.