CHICAGO (February, 2008) – The Corporation for National and Community Service named Columbia College Chicago to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth.
“Columbia is committed to providing access and opportunity for students who seek to express their creativity,” said college President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D. “We reach out to our community in a number of ways and through a number of programs that encourage and enhance young people’s likelihood of success – in school and in life.”
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 for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including innovation and scope 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.
The college’s nominated programs included a Saturday Scholars and Community Schools initiative that took more than 20 middle school students from Chicago Public Schools on a service trip to New Orleans. There, the youth worked side by side with college-age mentors to contribute to Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts. The project’s goals included college preparedness, life skills mentoring, and youth development.
In addition to the service hours, the high school students were asked to reflect on their experiences and on the stories of the individuals they met. They created essays, articles, and other writings, as well as media-based products such as film and photo documentaries, songs, and paintings.
The Honor Roll is jointly sponsored by the Corporation, through its Learn and Serve America program, and the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.
In congratulating the winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, “Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country.”
-end-