Valparaiso University Receives Presidential Recognition for Exemplary Community Service

Valparaiso University is on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for the third consecutive year, along with a group of select universities and colleges across the country that are honored for their support of volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

In addition to being only one of four Indiana schools to receive distinction for general community service, Valpo was also named with distinction in two additional categories: education and economic opportunity.

“We are thrilled Valpo has once again achieved distinction, and on all three honor rolls for which we applied,” said Elizabeth Lynn, director of the Institute for Leadership and Service, which coordinated the 2015 application. “Our distinguished place on the three honor rolls reflects the fact that civic engagement is truly central to the life and work of Valparaiso University.

“With an articulated vision and philosophy of leadership and service, and a demonstrated culture where students find service an anticipated part of campus life, Valparaiso University is actively placing graduates on a lifelong path of service and civic engagement.”

Sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Honor Roll annually highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing more students on a lifelong path of civic engagement by recognizing institutions that achieve meaningful, measurable outcomes in the communities they serve.

Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors, including the breadth, depth, and innovation of service projects; the percentage of student participation in service activities; incentives for service; and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

Valpo’s philanthropic and service-oriented culture prepares students who are highly sought for their knowledge, character, integrity and wisdom. The University recognizes that opportunities for life-changing service experiences not only benefit individuals and communities but also deepen students’ understanding of the world and themselves, and last year alone Valpo students dedicated more than 220,000 hours to community outreach and service-learning.

Through countless service-learning experiences such as mentorship programs, domestic and international service trips and organizations like Engineers Without Borders, Valpo students, faculty and staff work tirelessly to improve the lives of others — on campus, in the greater Valparaiso community and throughout the world.

Visit valpo.edu/student-life/service to learn more about how Valpo makes a difference in local and global communities.