Harding University honored for distinguished community service

Harding University

February 12, 2008

Harding University honored for distinguished community service

SEARCY – The Corporation for National and Community Service named Harding University to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth. This is the second year Harding has received the honor.

Said President David Burks, "At Harding University, a commitment to a servant-leadership lifestyle is part of our mission. As evidenced most recently by our 800 students, faculty and staff who spent Sunday in Van Buren County assisting with tornado cleanup and relief efforts, members of the Harding community are always looking for ways to serve others."

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 scope and innovativeness 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.

During the 2006-07 academic year, an estimated 3,344 Harding students, faculty and staff contributed 66,753 hours of service. Projects included benefits for Locks for Love and Heifer International, Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Special Olympics, tutoring, mentoring disadvantaged youth, and beautification projects.

"College students are tackling the toughest problems in America, demonstrating their compassion, commitment and creativity by serving as mentors, tutors, health workers, and even engineers," said David Eisner, chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "They represent a renewed spirit of civic engagement fostered by outstanding leadership on caring campuses."

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."

In total, 528 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

"There is no question that the universities and colleges who have made an effort to participate and win the Honor Roll award are themselves being rewarded," said American Council on Education President David Ward. "Earning this distinction is not easy. But now each of these schools will be able to wear this award like a badge of honor."

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.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations. For more information, go to http://www.nationalservice.gov.

Harding had a record enrollment this year of more than 6,300 students from 49 states and 52 foreign countries. It is the largest private university in Arkansas and attracts more National Merit Scholars than any other private university in the state. Harding also maintains campuses in Australia, Chile, England, France/Switzerland, Greece, Italy and Zambia.