The Corporation for National and Community Service honored Pfeiffer University with a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities. This is the third consecutive year Pfeiffer has received this designation.
“We are extremely proud of the continued efforts our university is making to develop a culture of service and civic engagement,” said Dr. Tracy Espy, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “This award was not achieved by one office or organization; it is an honor shared by each department, student group, athletic team and member of our community. While addressing the needs of both students and our local and global communities, the work is never done, but I’m excited that Pfeiffer continues to move forward with our goal of preparing compassionate civic leaders for an ever-evolving and demanding world.”
Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees were chosen based on a series of factors, including 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.
Pfeiffer has supported a mission of service by incorporating community engagement and service learning into the student experience. A few of the projects conducted last year were:
– Student-athletes hosted a “Dry Night” which offered students a chance to have fun without consuming alcohol and raised money to support the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which grants children with life-threatening medical conditions their wishes.
– Music faculty and students from the university’s jazz ensemble and combos headed to the Gulf Coast for a week of performances and mission work. While there, they played various venues and assisted with projects like helping to rebuild houses destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
– A Current Events class worked not only to get good grades, but to raise awareness and funds for people they are likely to never meet. Because 40,000 children die daily from malnutrition, starvation and hunger-related illnesses, the class wanted to bring attention to the Kids Against Hunger project, a nonprofit organization working to reduce the number of hungry children in the USA and to feed starving children abroad, especially in Haiti. Pfeiffer students raised enough money to buy 10,000 meals for hungry children.
“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chairman of the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “We salute Pfeiffer University for making community service a campus priority and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others.”
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering.