FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2012
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124
aperkins@pa.muw.edu

MUW receives national recognition for community service

COLUMBUS, Miss. – For the second year in a row, Mississippi University for Women has been recognized on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

The President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, launched in 2006, annually highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement by recognizing institutions that achieve meaningful, measureable outcomes in the communities they serve.

Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, the extent to which service-learning is embedded in the curriculum, the school’s commitment to long-term campus-community partnerships and measurable community outcomes as a result of service.

“We are truly honored by this recognition. I am very appreciative of all faculty, staff and students for their commitment to community service and dedication to making a difference,” said Dr. Jim Borsig, MUW president. “Community service is important in developing leadership skills among our students. It is also an opportunity for faculty and staff to demonstrate leadership through service on campus and in the community.”

MUW students, faculty and staff completed 263,000 hours of community service in 2010-2011.

Those programs included weekend service trips to assist with disaster recovery, summer programs benefiting students in at risk school districts in the state, and service learning projects that helped students learn more about their field of study while helping those in the Golden Triangle.

Jessica Harpole, MUW coordinator of leadership and service, said, “Our students, faculty and staff are examples how a small group of committed people can make a huge impact on the region. Hopefully others will follow this example of servant leadership and get connected to a project that they can be passionate about.”

The Corporation for National and Community Service oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

CNCS is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America programs and leads President Barack Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.