Concordia University Chicago Named to Community Service Honor Roll for Sixth Time

Submitted by Concordia University Chicago. Image via Facebook.

Concordia University Chicago was named to the U.S. President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the sixth time since the program’s inception in 2006. This is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. Concordia University Chicago has received this honor in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013.

The announcement was recently made by The Corporation for National and Community Service, which is the nation’s largest federal agency supporting service and volunteering through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and the Social Innovation Fund. This Honor Roll recognizes colleges and universities nationwide where students and faculty participate outside the classroom to address poverty, homelessness, environmental justice and other community needs.

“We are extremely proud of this honor, but even more proud that we are able to serve the community in so many ways,” said professor Alannah Hernandez, CUC’s director of the Academic Service-Learning Center. “We are an army of ants – each one of us carries a little grain of sand, a grain of sugar or a grain of salt. When we are alone, it feels like we are doing little, but when we are together we actually end up making a mound!”

Approximately 59 percent of CUC students gave back to the community during the 2013-14 school year through 11,426 service hours. The university partners with several Chicago metropolitan social service agencies, schools and organizations where its students volunteer and serve. Organizations that have benefitted include Feed My Starving Children, The Chicago Food Depository, Circle Urban Ministries, St. Eulalia Soup Kitchen and West Suburban PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter).

The Corporation oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

For more information on Concordia University Chicago, visit CUChicago.edu.