Rochester, N.Y. – Monroe Community College has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college can receive for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. MCC is one of only five community colleges in New York state named to the honor roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

“We’re extremely proud that our students exhibit a strong sense of social responsibility,” said MCC President Anne M. Kress. “Promoting literacy among area children, introducing entrepreneurship to teens, assisting Rochester-area senior citizens, transforming an impoverished village in Sudan – our students did all this and more, with support and guidance from our equally dedicated faculty and staff. We believe that service and partnerships are how the challenges of our time will be met.”

Last year, more than 20 student clubs and organizations at MCC completed at least one community service project during the academic year; most completed more. Their efforts included a Habitat for Humanity project, clothing drives, book collections and fundraisers. During that same period, 1,843 MCC students, who were enrolled in 103 different service-learning course sections, contributed 43,371 hours to a wide variety of community projects. They helped youths learn to become savvy entrepreneurs and developed workshops for afterschool programs on personal and cyber safety issues. They tutored, developed literacy kits, and assisted community members in financial planning and income tax preparation.

Community partners included School 36, Islamic Center of Rochester, Lifespan, Empire Justice, United Way, City of Rochester, Office of the Aging, and Water for Sudan.

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 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. For a full list of honor roll recipients, go to www.learnandserve.gov/about/programs/higher_ed_honorroll.asp.

“Congratulations to Monroe Community College and its students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation. “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.”

In 2009, 3.16 million college students performed more than 300 million hours of service, according to the Volunteering in America study released by the Corporation. Each year, the Corporation 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 through support of training, research, recognition and other initiatives to spur college service.

The Corporation administers the annual honor roll award in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs and leads President Obama’s United We Serve initiative. For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov/

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Media Contact:
Hency Yuen-Eng
College and Community Relations
585-292-3063
hyuen-eng@monroecc.edu