Brooklyn College Receives National Recognition for Community Service, Named to President’s Honor Roll with Distinction

Brooklyn College has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, the second-highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. Brooklyn College is the only public higher education institution in New York City to have obtained such distinction. Last year, the college also earned a spot in the President’s Honor Roll.

"Our goal is to engage students in the civic life of the college and the community," stated Dean of Student Affairs Milga Morales. "This more distinguished recognition affirms that CUNY students at Brooklyn College understand the value of a publicly supported higher education and are willing and anxious to pay it forward through involvement and volunteering on and off campus."

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized more than 700 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. Business students served as consultants to budget-strapped nonprofits and businesses, law students volunteered at legal clinics and dozens of others organized anti-hunger campaigns.   

The Honor Roll includes six colleges and universities that are recognized as Presidential Awardees, with an additional 115 named to the Distinction List and 621 named as Honor Roll members. Honorees are 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.

"Congratulations to Brooklyn College and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities," said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community 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. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service."

Brooklyn College reflects the borough’s hardworking and caring character.  In fact, explicit among the college’s goals are the commitment to being a good neighbor in the borough and the desire to give back to the Brooklyn community that 85 percent of its students call home. A 2009 survey of more than 1,000 Brooklyn College students found that more than 60 percent reported that they performed volunteer community service in the past year; while 20 percent of respondents reported taking advantage of the service learning and internship programs offered by the college. 

The programs Brooklyn College included in its application for the Honor Roll are: 

• Students Engaged in Responsible Volunteer Action (SERVA)––For nearly a decade, Brooklyn College has been documenting and acknowledging significant service provided by student volunteers through SERVA, its unique volunteer service registry. In 2008–09, SERVA students documented 8,015 hours assisting in local communities while fulfilling their participation at SERVA-eligible educational workshops and maintaining good academic standing.
• Empowered Athletes Serving Others/Student-Athlete Advisory Committee––Working with local agencies, the program has placed emphasis on helping the most vulnerable members of the community, developmentally disabled and ill children.
• The Magner Center for Career Development and Internships––The center’s various small business internships allow students to gain practical work experience while providing assistance to local businesses in Brooklyn. During 2008–09, student interns were able to assist entrepreneurs in the incubator phase of their business and to provide low-cost counseling and training services to existing and prospective small businesses, enabling access to competitive and business information on matters such as financing, insurance, marketing research or government regulations.

College students make a significant contribution to the volunteer sector; in 2009, 3.16 million students performed more than 300 million hours of service, according to the Volunteering in America study released by CNCS. Each year, CNCS invests more than $150 million in fostering a culture of service on college campuses through grants awarded by its programs; the education awards that AmeriCorps members receive at the conclusion of their term of service to pay for college; and support of training, research, recognition and other initiatives to spur college service. CNCS oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.