Chaminade Receives Presidential Award for Service

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Chaminade Receives Presidential Award for Service
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Kapono Ryan
(808) 735-4797 or cell (808) 429-2972

Chaminade Receives Presidential Award for Service

--University Honored for Service to Disadvantaged Youth--

HONOLULU--February 11, 2008--Today the Corporation for National and Community Service honored Chaminade University as one as one of only three colleges and universities nationwide to receive its Presidential Award for Service to Youth from Disadvantaged Circumstances in its 2007 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Given at the American Council on Education (ACE) annual conference in San Diego, California, the award was in recognition of the University's exemplary service efforts.

The Honor Roll's Presidential Award is the highest recognition a school 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 innovativeness 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.

"At Chaminade University, we consider service to be a key component in educating our students and preparing them to become engaged citizens," said Chaminade president Sue Wesselkamper. "As an institution for higher learning, Chaminade University emphasizes integrated service-learning as a way to enrich its academic curriculum. Our integrated approach helps our students to develop skills and, broaden their understanding and knowledge base. We have made it our mission to graduate students who are well-prepared for successful careers through their educational experience and enhanced by their service-learning involvements."

Chaminade University of Honolulu's notable community service achievements include 62,000 hours that students, faculty, and staff dedicated to service--surpassing the 50,000 hours pledge by the university community--and the 85 percent of students who participated in community service to disadvantaged youth.

In addition, the university's Palolo Pipeline & Beyond project, which provided academic support to youth from disadvantaged circumstances in the Palolo housing development, was so successful in neighborhood middle and elementary schools that the schools were able to meet the goals of No Child Left Behind. In addition, students trained by the IRS helped local working-poor families obtain Federal Earned Income Tax Credits and get back more than $150,000 in taxes.
"Chaminade students are a sterling example of today's college students, who are tackling the toughest problems in America, demonstrating their compassion, commitment, and creativity by serving as mentors, tutors, health workers, and even engineers," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation, who presented the award. "They represent a renewed spirit of civic engagement fostered by outstanding leadership on caring campuses."

In congratulating the winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said, "Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country."

In addition to Chaminade University, the Presidential Award for Service to Youth from Disadvantaged Circumstances was given to Syracuse University and the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif. The Presidential Award for General Community Service went to Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Pennsylvania.

The Honor Roll also recognized four schools as Special Achievement Award winners, 127 as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 391 schools as Honor Roll members. In total, 528 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations. For more information, go to http://www.nationalservice.gov.

Celebrating more than 50 years of educating students for life, service and successful careers, Chaminade University offers programs of study grounded in the liberal arts with day, evening, online and accelerated courses. The main campus is located in Kaimuki at 3140 Waialae Ave., Honolulu, HI 96816, with 10 satellite locations around Oahu military bases and Catholic parishes and schools. For more information, visit the Chaminade Web site at www.chaminade.edu or call (808) 735-4711.

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