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Pepperdine University Receives National Recognition for Community Service

Pepperdine University has been named to the 2009 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. 

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognizes colleges and universities for their impact on issues from poverty and homelessness to environmental justice. On campuses across the country, thousands of students joined their faculty to develop innovative programs and projects to meet local needs using the skills gained in their classrooms.

Pepperdine is among 621 colleges and universities in the nation that were named as 2009 Honor Roll members, chosen based on a series of selection factors including the 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.

"We are proud to be included on the President's Honor Roll which celebrates service, volunteerism, and civic engagement," says Andrew K. Benton, president of Pepperdine University. "The award comes at a time when hundreds of Pepperdine students are preparing for Project Serve, our annual Spring Break initiative that sends more than a dozen teams of students into inner cities across America and as far away as the Dominican Republic to help those in need. It is gratifying that their efforts and the on-going efforts of our faculty, staff and alumni volunteers around the world helped secure our placement in the honor roll.”

According to a study done by the Corporation for National and Community Service College, students made a significant contribution to the volunteer sector in 2009, with 3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service.

"Our nation's students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face," says Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service."

Learn more about community service projects at Pepperdine at the Waves of Service Web site, or get involved through the Pepperdine Volunteer Center.