MIAMI – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) long-standing commitment to service and civic engagement has once again received national attention. This time, MDC has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. It is also a past recipient of this honor.
The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized MDC and others for their positive impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. MDC was one of just 23 community colleges in the entire nation to make the Honor Roll.
On campuses across the country, thousands of students joined their faculty to develop innovative programs and projects to meet local needs using the skills gained in their classrooms. Business students served as consultants to budget-strapped nonprofits and other businesses, law students volunteered at legal clinics, and dozens of others organized anti-hunger campaigns.
Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including the 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.
“Congratulations to Miami Dade College and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Our nation’s students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service.”
This is not the first time MDC has made the President’s Honor Roll or been cited for its community service initiatives. In fact, last fall, the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama lauded MDC for its service learning initiatives during a Florida Campus Compact awards program held at the college’s Freedom Tower in downtown Miami. During that program, MDC won several Florida Campus Compact awards, one of which included the Engaged Campus of the Year Award for outstanding commitment to a culture of engagement in all aspects of our institution.
College students nationwide make a significant contribution to the volunteer sector; in 2009, 3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service, according to the Volunteering in America study released by the Corporation.
