Press Release

Oglethorpe University Named to Presidential Honor Roll
For Community Service for Third Consecutive Year

ATLANTA – The Corporation for National and Community Service honored Oglethorpe University today with a place on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America’s communities.   

On learning the news, Oglethorpe President Lawrence M. Schall, Ed. D. said “We are delighted to receive this recognition for the third consecutive year, especially as we are the only private college or university in Georgia to achieve this. It is a tribute to Oglethorpe students, faculty, staff and alumni who are committed to making an impact and a difference in our communities."

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 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.

Located in the middle of bustling metro Atlanta, Oglethorpe has long been known for providing an outstanding liberal arts education within a small community of dedicated students and faculty. Recently, however, Oglethorpe has become known for something else. It is a place where students are trained to become educated and involved citizens of the world, and it begins with the freshmen.

The first year experience goes beyond a few days of orientation and a required class or two. Within a day of arriving on campus, before classes ever begin, all freshmen and transfer students complete four hours of community service. Organized and hosted by Oglethorpe’s Center for Civic Engagement, the service project is meant to place an early emphasis on community involvement. This year’s orientation service project was in Grant Park, an Atlanta landmark.

“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “We salute Oglethorpe University for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others.”

Overall, the Corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, 83 were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members.  In total, 635 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is presented during the annual conference of the American Council on Education. 

“I offer heartfelt congratulations to those institutions named to the 2008 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.College and university students across the country are making a difference in the lives of others every day – as are the institutions that encourage their students to serve others,” said American Council on Education President Molly Corbett Broad.

Recent studies have underlined the importance of service-learning and volunteering to college students. In 2006, 2.8 million college students gave more than 297 million hours of volunteer service, according to the Corporation’s Volunteering in America 2007 study. Expanding campus incentives for service is part of a larger initiative to spur higher levels of volunteering by America’s college students. The Corporation is working with a coalition of federal agencies, higher education and student associations, and nonprofit organizations to achieve this goal.

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 www.nationalservice.gov.

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Located in Atlanta and founded in 1835, Oglethorpe enrolls over 1,000 students representing 34 states and 36 countries. The university plays in the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Princeton Review’s The Best 368 Colleges 2008 edition ranks Oglethorpe in its prestigious list and also names it a Best Southeastern College. Oglethorpe is also listed among the 2009 Colleges of Distinction. Oglethorpe University is Georgia’s only coeducational member of the Annapolis Group, an organization of America’s most selective liberal arts institutions.