For the second year, MU was named by the Corporation for National and Community Service to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service.
“Service has been the hallmark of this institution since the Religious Sisters of Mercy founded it in 1924,’’ said Linda Ross, director of the Service Leadership Center at MU. “By imbuing in each student a sense of service to others, Misericordia is helping students discover the opportunities they need to be successful in both their careers and lives.’’
The Community Service Honor Roll was launched in 2006. It is the highest federal recognition a college or university can achieve for its commitment to service learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors, including scope and innovative service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the institution’s academic service-learning courses.
“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever,’’ said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the board of director of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges. We salute Misericordia University for making community service a campus priority.’’
During the 2007-08 academic year, 563 Misericordia students engaged in 37 academic service-learning courses and 796 students participated in community service. The university also had 128 students who were engaged in at least 20 hours of community service per semester. Overall, MU students provided 29,909 service hours.
Service opportunities come in many forms at MU. Campus Ministry organizes service teams that focus on at-risk children and issues of poverty, empowerment for those in need and social justice. Campus Ministry has spearheaded service trips to Guyana, Jamaica, California, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and in the greater community.
MU students also provided 1,492 hours of tutoring at after-school programs to regional elementary school children at McGlynn and Mineral Springs learning centers, Luzerne County Head Start, Kids Café and the Dallas and Lake-Lehman school districts.
MU’s Service Leadership Center coordinates academic-based service learning. MU works with seven community service partners, including the McGlynn Learning Center, Scholars in Service to Pennsylvania, and First Book to reach those in need. First Book is a national program that is sponsored and organized locally by MU students. It provides children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own new books.
The seven Scholars in Service to Pennsylvania (SISPA) at MU added 1,645 service hours through 30 programs, including First Book, academic tutoring and volunteering at the McAuley House, a local shelter for women. Ninety-one students volunteered in programs through Volunteers in Service to America.
Service learning at MU also addresses social issues, like homelessness. A group of 58 MU students formed a homeless coalition task force that prepared and served dinner for 72 homeless men at a local shelter, and 28 faculty and staff prepared 81 nutritious bagged lunches for men and women who did not eat at the soup kitchen. MU students also served as shelter coordinators at an all-women’s shelter in Wilkes-Barre and raised awareness through a campus sleep out.
The Honor Roll is a Corporation for National and Community Service program, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.
MU Makes the Honor Roll, Again!
By Highlander Staff Reports
Published: Sunday, February 22, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 23:02
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MU provides service and academic service-learning opportunities to the entire campus community. MU was recently named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for their volunteer efforts in the greater community. Some of the students who did service work through campus organizations or academic courses include, from left, Linda Ross, director of the Service Leadership Center at MU; Jennifer Lozier, a speech-language pathology major; Julianne Curry, a speech-language patho
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