The Corporation for National and Community Service announced its annual honor roll — 770 U.S. colleges and universities, including Bethel College, where students, faculty and staff have demonstrated their commitment to bettering their communities through volunteering, civic engagement and service learning.
Bethel was one of six Kansas schools and one of four Kansas private colleges named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
Bethel made the honor roll based on values and actions. Among Bethel’s seven core values are service, that prizes compassion and concern for the powerless …; community, that prizes social connectivity and shared endeavor with others; [and] peace and social justice, that prizes commitment to a peaceful and just society.
These become concrete in annual service events that include, among others, all-campus efforts such as a beginning-of-the-school-year service project, the fall Service Day and the Angel Tree each December to benefit residents of the Harvey County Domestic Violence Task Force’s safe house; the spring break service trip; and the individual, group and team service projects that occur throughout the school year.
The Community Service Honor Roll recognizes higher education institutions that reflect the values of exemplary community service and achieve meaningful outcomes in their communities.
The honor roll was initially inspired by the thousands of college students who traveled from all corners of the country to support relief efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
For more of this article, visit the Bethel College website.