LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Lock Haven University has been named to the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. This marks the sixth straight year that LHU has earned this distinction.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized a total of 642 colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice.

A total of 851 institutions applied for the 2010 Honor Roll, a nine percent increase over last year, a sign of the growing interest by colleges and universities in highlighting their efforts to engage students in making a difference in the community.
On campuses across the country, millions of college students are engaged in innovative projects to meet local needs, often using the skills learned in classrooms. In 2009, 3.2 million college students dedicated more than 307 million hours of service to communities across the country, service valued at more than $6.4 billion. Business and law students offer tax preparation and legal services, and college student volunteers provide meals, create parks, rebuild homes after disasters, conduct job training, run senior service programs, and much more.
“Congratulations to Lock Haven University and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "As members of the class of 2011 cross the stage to pick up their diplomas, more and more will be going into the world with a commitment to public service and the knowledge that they can make a difference in their communities and their own lives through service to others, thanks to the leadership of these institutions," he stated.

The Honor Roll includes 6 colleges and universities that are recognized as Presidential Awardees, 11 that were identified as finalists, 114 named to the Honor Roll with distinction, and 511 listed as Honor Roll members. A full list of Honor Roll recipients is available at www.NationalService.gov/HonorRoll

Anne-Marie Turnage, Director of LHU’s MountainServe Center for Global Citizenship, commented, "Receipt of this award for six straight years demonstrates Lock Haven University's commitment to preparing students to be active, participating citizens both while they are here at LHU as well as after they graduate."

Lock Haven University President Barbara B. Dixon added, “I am proud of the thousands of hours of service provided by the students and staff of Lock Haven University. At LHU, service is an integral part of who we are as an institution and as a community.”



Lock Haven University challenges students to exercise personal and civic responsibility and to participate in public service. In 2009- 10, 3,286 Lock Haven University students engaged in more than 59,000 hours of service. The monetary value of LHU student volunteerism is an invaluable resource for the region totaling more than $1.2 million. In 2009-10, students engaged in service and service- learning tutored and mentored more than 2,500 youth; removed more than one ton of debris from streambeds and illegal dump sites to improve stream quality; improved miles of hiking trails; served families in crisis; mentored the elderly; provided clinical health care and education to more than 1,000 people; and provided disaster relief and rebuilding to three communities along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

Last year, LHU also was accepted as a member of the Talloires Network, an international association of institutions committed to strengthening the civic roles and social responsibilities of higher education, and more than 50 students provided nutrition and hygiene education as well as clinical health care to communities in Zacatecas, Mexico and Morocco’s Ourika Valley in the High Atlas Mountains. MountainServe Center for Global Citizenship director Anne-Marie Turnage stated that “LHU is committed to developing global citizen scholars and we are honored to once again be recognized as a member of the U. S. President’s Community Service Honor Roll.”

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.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.gov