Campus News 2006-2007 Academic Year

Pitzer College Awarded The President’s Higher Education Community Service Award Honor Roll

Claremont, Calif. (March 23, 2007) – Pitzer College has been named to the first-ever President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This distinction recognizes students, faculty and staff for helping to build a culture of service and civic engagement in our nation, as well as for extraordinary and exemplary contributions to meeting critical local and national needs through community service and service-learning.

“Institutions of higher education have a long tradition of service to their communities. When colleges organize effective community service programs, they do so not only to meet the needs of the communities that surround them, but to improve the academic and civic lives of their students, faculty, and staff," David Eisner, Chief Executive Officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service, said.

Nine Pitzer students traveled to Hattiesburg, Mississippi during the fall break of 2005 , staying in a FEMA Tent City with families who had been displaced by the catastrophe. Funding for the trip was made possible by a Pitzer College trustee, alumnae, parents of current Pitzer students, and College funds.The second alternative Fall break took Pitzer students to New Orleans’s lower ninth ward to aid in Katrina disaster relief.

In addition to the awards, the Corporation for National and Community Service produced a comprehensive study revealing that college student civic engagement rising significantly in recent years. The "College Students Helping America" study showed an increase of nearly 20 percent in volunteerism during the last three years, and ,specifically, that 3.3 million college students perform some form of volunteer service each year.