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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) honored ¾¨Ó㴫ý with a place on the 2013 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its support of volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement.

¾¨Ó㴫ý has earned Honor Roll recognition every year since the program was launched in 2006.  More than 1,200 ¾¨Ó㴫ý students volunteered nearly 32,000 hours last academic year (2011-2012) through academic service-learning or other community service.

"A central theme of our curriculum is to foster strong personal and social values as an important outcome for our future graduates," ¾¨Ó㴫ý President Dr. Richard H. Dorman said.  "¾¨Ó㴫ý is proud to have been recognized for its commitment to service-learning by the Corporation for National and Community Service for the seventh straight year.  It affirms that we are succeeding in this mission."

The Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.  Honorees were chosen based on a series of selection factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, the extent to which service-learning is embedded in the curriculum, the school's commitment to long-term campus-community partnerships, and measurable community outcomes as a result of the service.

"¾¨Ó㴫ý 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 Dr. Patrick Krantz, director of ¾¨Ó㴫ý's Drinko Center for Experiential Learning, who tracks the hours and projects.  "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."

A sampling of local organizations that benefit from ¾¨Ó㴫ý student volunteers include: Lawrence County Community Action Partnership, Head Start, local school districts, Walker Neighborhood House, Adult Literacy Center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Cray Youth and Family Services, Crisis Shelter of Lawrence County, Special Olympics, Royal Family Kids Camp, Habitat for Humanity, Origins Neighborhood House, and the American Cancer Society.

"Congratulations to ¾¨Ó㴫ý, 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.

Visit for more information about the Honor Roll and a complete list of recipients. 

The Drinko Center for Experiential Learning was created to enrich undergraduate education at ¾¨Ó㴫ý through advancing world-class teaching as well as by participating in collaborations that address community and regional needs including strengthening K-12 education.  Visit to learn more about the Drinko Center.

Contact Krantz at (724) 946-6097 (email krantzpd@westminster.edu) or visit for additional information about the Drinko Center and its programs.