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For the third consecutive year, Neumann University has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The 2014 recognition is for the university’s work in Chester, Pennsylvania, Camden, New Jersey, and Riverton, Wyoming. This designation is the highest honor a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.
Nationwide, 770 colleges received this recognition from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the U.S. Department of Education. Fifty-seven are in Pennsylvania.
“Neumann students are engaged in service programs to help rebuild communities, serve the poor, and learn from their experiences,” explained Dr. Rosalie Mirenda, Neumann’s president. “Designation as a Community Service Honor Roll school is evidence that Neumann is committed to its mission, to educate students based upon the belief that knowledge, while valuable in itself, is a gift to be shared in the service of others.”
In 2013-14, there were 1,702 Neumann students engaged in general community service and service learning activities, totaling 137,407 hours.
At Drexel Neumann Academy (DNA) in Chester, Neumann students tutored elementary school youngsters in reading, writing, art, music and physical fitness. Students majoring in education and athletic training as well as art students and members of the University Jazz band contributed 1,393 hours during the course of two semesters. Twenty-five faculty and staff members also volunteered at DNA.
In Camden, as part of the Waterfront South revitalization, students supported the Center for Environmental Transformation (CFET) and Heart of Camden projects. For the Heart of Camden, a movement to improve the quality of life and provide affordable housing for residents of the impoverished area, Neumann students refurbished houses, cultivated an urban greenhouse and garden, and completed general clean-up projects. Students also tutored youngsters, worked at a local soup kitchen and thrift shop, and donated toys collected at the university’s annual Breakfast with Santa event. As part of CFET, students educated residents about ways to support environmentally responsible living.
During a week-long service immersion trip to the Wind River Indian Reservation in Riverton, Wyoming, students painted, cleaned, landscaped, and sang to residents of a local nursing home. Wind River is the seventh largest Indian reservation in the country, home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes.
On and around campus, students volunteer their time to help at Elwyn, Inc. and Red Hill Farm, as well as participate in Adopt-A-Highway and Sandwiches for Survival initiatives. Service-learning is now integrated into two required courses, ensuring that all students will participate in service during their years at the university.
“Service and higher education go hand in hand,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “These schools are inspiring young leaders to roll up their sleeves and work alongside community members to solve problems. By recognizing the institutions who are leading the way to achieve meaningful, measurable results for the communities they serve, we also highlight the vital role all colleges and universities play in addressing community challenges and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement.”
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.