Colgate University was named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This designation is the highest honor a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.
Colgate University has a long history of service-learning and believes strongly in preparing our graduates to be active leaders and participants in an ever changing world,” said Krista Saleet, Director of Max A. Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE). “We’re honored to receive this prestigious award – and owe much of it to the students themselves. They’re the energy driving our commitment and they’re the ones who make it all happen.”
The Max A. Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism and Education (COVE) brings together students, staff and faculty to work hand-in-hand with local, national and global communities to build thriving communities through regular community service, alternative break trips, supporting philanthropic efforts of campus organizations, and a number of other annual service events.
Colgate has dedicated 7 staff members to the COVE. The COVE staff works to provide opportunities to engage in community service, deepen understanding of pertinent social issues through interaction, collaboration, and experiential learning while training students as leaders and advocates for social change. The COVE recruits, trains, mentors and advises more than 500 students to participate in more than 40 groups that engage in regular and sustained community service in the local area throughout the school year. These teams span a variety of interest areas and contribute more than 5,000 hours of service to the local community annually. This year, the COVE is sending more than 60 students on 6 alternative break trips to locations in the United States and abroad.
This fall, the COVE welcomed nearly 10% of the first year class to campus early to engage in two days of community service before classes start. At the end of the academic year when students are leaving campus, the COVE rallies the campus community to collect and donate more than 3 UHaul truckloads of food and more than 15 U-Haul truckloads of clothing, furniture and other miscellaneous items to local charitable organizations. Additionally, the COVE coordinates a Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service that brings together staff, faculty and students to serve together. Collectively, service groups raise more than $3000 annually through philanthropic efforts to contribute to charitable organizations around the world.
“Congratulations to Colgate University its faculty and students for its commitment to service, both in and out of the classroom,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of CNCS. “Through its work, institutions of higher education are helping improve their local communities and create a new generation of leaders by challenging students to go beyond the traditional college experience and solve local challenges.”
Inspired by the thousands of college students who traveled across the country to support relief efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, CNCS has administered the award since 2006 and manages the program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the American Council on Education and Campus Compact.
More information about the Colgate University community service efforts can be found at colgate.edu/COVE. More information on eligibility and the full list of Honor Roll awardees can be found at nationalservice.gov.
The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll honors the nation’s leading higher education institutions and their students, faculty and staff for their commitment to bettering their communities through service. These are institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities.
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund and other programs, and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve.