During the 2007-2008 academic year, nearly 7,000 UofL students went out into the community and, among other things, promoted good health and nutrition to kids and families, helped senior citizens and worked with at-risk youth — mentoring and tutoring younger students and emphasizing the importance of staying in school.
Their efforts to make people’s lives better now and in the future recently contributed to our being named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service to America’s communities.
The Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. The Learn and Serve America program of the Corporation for National and Community Service gives it. The program selects schools for the honor roll based not only on student activity but also on such factors as the scope and innovation of service projects, incentives for service and the extent to which a school offers community-based learning courses.
Each college and school within the university embraces community service. Central support comes from our Office of Community Engagement, which facilitates, coordinates and advances universitywide community engagement. Our Ideas to Action office also supports universitywide community engagement by working with faculty to help them incorporate into their curriculum activities that let students take what they learn in the classroom and apply it in the community.
By our very existence, we have a responsibility to be active, contributing members of our community. We take that responsibility seriously. So do our students.
The courage to question convention.
The passion to break new ground.
The insight to champion community.
The imagination to pursue the undiscovered.
The will to achieve greatness.
The promise of a limitless future.
The people to bring it to life.
It’s Happening Here.