MACON – Mercer University has been selected as one of 141 colleges and universities in the nation recognized for distinguished community service on the first President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The distinction recognizes Mercer students, faculty and staff for helping to build a culture of service and civic engagement in the nation. More than 500 colleges and universities applied for the Honor Roll this year.
Mercer President William D. Underwood this week received the official certificate recognizing the achievement from David Eisner, chief executive officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service.
“Higher education is a powerful engine of civic engagement and is central to achieving the President’s vision of active citizens and connected communities,” said Stephen Goldsmith, chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent federal agency tasked with fostering an ethic of volunteerism and service in America. “We applaud America’s college students and the universities they attend for stepping up to help people in need.”
In Georgia, Mercer University and Oglethorpe University were the two schools recognized for distinguished general community service. Four other Georgia universities were recognized for distinguished hurricane relief service in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Honor Roll is co-sponsored by the Corporation for Community and National Service, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. The recognition is presented in cooperation with Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 1,000 college and university presidents, and supported by all the major national higher education associations.
This is the third recent honor the University has received for its commitment to community service and civic engagement. In 2005, Mercer was one of 81 institutions of higher education named a “College with a Conscience” by the Princeton Review and College Compact, and in 2006, the University was named 13th in the nation in the first “Saviors of Our Cities” ranking by Evan Dobelle, president and CEO of the New England Board of Higher Education.
In the 2006 National Survey for Student of Engagement, which is administered to first-year and senior students to assess student involvement in the educational opportunities provided by their college or university, 85 percent of Mercer students stated that they have done or plan to do community service or volunteer work.
About Mercer University:
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University has 7,300 students; 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies; major campuses in Macon and Atlanta; four regional academic centers across the state; a university press; two teaching hospitals — Memorial Health University Medical Center and the Medical Center of Central Georgia; educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta; an engineering research center in Warner Robins; a performing arts center in Macon; and a NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
