Oberlin College Receives National Recognition for Community Service

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) honored Oberlin College as a leader among institutions of higher education for its support of community service, community-based learning, and civic engagement. Oberlin College earned a place on the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction in the Interfaith Community Service category and secured a place on the Honor Roll in both the General Community Service and Education categories.

Launched in 2006, the Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its strong institutional commitment to community service and compelling campus-community partnerships that produce measurable results for the community. A total of 770 higher education institutions were selected for the 2014 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This is the eighth consecutive year that Oberlin College has received the honor, and Oberlin was one of only seven Ohio schools to receive the recognition of Honor Roll with Distinction in any of the four categories. The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) acts as a catalyst for community-based learning programs nationwide that connect community service with academic curricula and community needs.

Since its creation in 1994, Oberlin College’s Bonner Center for Service and Learning has encouraged students to become engaged citizens through curricular and co-curricular initiatives that achieve meaningful outcomes in the community. “Oberlin College has long been known for integrating Learning and Labor, and this recognition with distinction on the 2014 Honor Roll affirms the wonderful work of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners,” notes Beth Blissman, director of the Bonner Center for Service and Learning. “It also affirms our collaboration with the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, as more and more students explore interfaith service as an opportunity to make meaning in their lives.”

CNCS oversees the Honor Roll in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact, the Interfaith Youth Core and the American Council on Education. Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, the extent to which community-based 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. For a full list of recipients and descriptions of their service, visit www.nationalservice.gov.