Claremont, Calif. (March 14, 2012) — Pitzer College was named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Pitzer has been named to honor roll five times since the list’s inception in 2006.
Pitzer students donate over 100,000 hours annually to local and global organizations through the College’s Community Engagement Center. Students work in programs that range from tutoring at-risk kids and helping abused women to writing grants for local Native American tribes and teaching English to day laborers.
Tessa Hicks Peterson, assistant vice president of community engagement and assistant professor of urban studies, said Pitzer helps transform local communities through community-campus partnerships.
“We are honored to receive this distinction from President Obama and are proud of all the meaningful work of our students, faculty, staff and community partners,” Peterson said. “Through collaborative research and service projects, Pitzer forwards its core values of social responsibility, intercultural understanding and environmental sustainability. We appreciate this national recognition for our work.”
The Corporation for National and Community Service oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education. Honorees are chosen based on a series of factors including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.
