University honored for community service

(WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 11, 2015) For the fourth year in a row, the Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS) has honored California Lutheran University as a leader in volunteering, service learning and civic engagement.

Cal Lutheran was named to the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for engaging students, faculty and staff in meaningful service. Selection criteria included the scope and innovation of service projects, integration of service learning into the curriculum, commitment to long-term community partnerships, and measurable impact on communities.

More than 2,000 people volunteered at 21 activities organized by Cal Lutheran’s Community Service Center in 2013-2014. The activities included spending five days working for service organizations in Los Angeles, meeting regularly with residents of a senior-living facility, and making lunches for the homeless. Nearly 50 people participated in alternative break trips. They assisted with reconstruction efforts in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, volunteered at a Nicaraguan refugee camp and an orphanage in Costa Rica, and provided service to the hungry, homeless and poor of San Francisco.

Faculty members from all disciplines provide opportunities for service learning as part of Cal Lutheran’s effort to guide students to find their vocations. This semester, the university’s Center for Academic Service-Learning has provided $5,000 in grants for 10 projects involving about 200 students. The current projects include Physics Club members making solar-powered lights for people without electricity through Unite to Light in Santa Barbara, Contemporary Christian Ethics students removing non-native plants on Anacapa Island, and criminal justice students volunteering at agencies serving inmates, parolees and their families.

The CNCS launched the Honor Roll in 2006 and oversees it in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the American Council on Education and Campus Compact. The CNCS is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund and other programs.