The ongoing and wide-ranging community engagement of Case Western Reserve University faculty, staff and students has earned a prestigious national honor. The university was named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The Honor Roll, including 690 colleges and universities, recognizes higher education institutions for exemplary community service. Case Western Reserve has made the Honor Roll four times before, but this is the first year the university made the Honor Roll with Distinction, a list that includes 100 higher education institutions. The list was announced Monday at the American Council on Education annual conference in Washington, D.C.
View the Honor Roll with Distinction list at nationalservice.gov/pdf/2013_hr_distinction_list.pdf.
“The culture of serving the needs of the community is part of the DNA of Case Western Reserve University,” said Latisha James, the university’s senior director of local government and community relations. “It’s fantastic that we are being recognized with distinction. It validates the great work that everyone is doing with community engagement. As a university, we are very humbled by this honor. But it’s even more important for everybody to be aware of the impact we have in the community.”
The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll was launched in 2006. What makes Case Western Reserve stand out nationally is its wide range of community involvement, James said. In 2012, university volunteers contributed more than 472,300 hours of community service, she said.
For example, Case for Community Day is an annual volunteer event for faculty, staff, students and alumni. Held during academic hours, more than 500 volunteers participated in 67 community service projects in the Cleveland area. Volunteers annually participate in various service projects, from cleaning, landscaping and painting houses and small businesses to conducting free health screenings, offering technology training and helping city neighborhoods prepare special events.
Other major projects throughout the year included:
- Varsity men’s and women’s teams hosted a sports clinic for 300 public school students that included lessons on the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles;
- In collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, 250 of Case Western Reserve’s medical, nursing, dental and social science students provided free medical screenings throughout Greater Cleveland;
- The School of Medicine partnered with the MC2STEM High School—Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) school—for a seven-week program for Cleveland teens;
- The Center for Civic Engagement & Learning hosted two AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate positions to build food and nutrition efforts in Cleveland; and
- The Flora Stone Mather Center for Women developed a program that encourages middle-school girls in Cleveland to learn about and pursue careers in science and engineering.
For more information on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, visit nationalservice.gov/about/initiatives/honorroll.asp.