Calvin College named to President's Honor Roll for service-learning

Calvin College has been named to the 2013 President's Higher Education
Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or
university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and
civic engagement. This is Calvin's second time being so honored. (The college
was recognized previously in 2009.)
"Receiving this award is another reminder, to ourselves, our partners, and the
larger society, of what Calvin College values," said Jeff Bouman, director of
Calvin's service-learning center.
The Corporation for National and Community Service administers the annual
honor roll award. Honorees were chosen based on a series of selection factors
including the scope 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.
Calvin College's service learning center reports that 2,200 students completed
almost 4,000 service-learning opportunities during the 2011-2012 academic year.
The total time logged by those students: more than 55,000 hours.
"At Calvin we are committed to more than the theoretical engagement with the
surrounding community and world--we are committed to understanding, learning
from, and participating in the world-changing that God is about in the cosmos
all around us," said Bouman. "Service-learning, for nearly 50 years now has
been an engine that enables theory to touch practice."
Fueling that engine are the longstanding community partnerships Calvin has
maintained in the city of Grand Rapids. Since 1964, the college and Grand
Rapids Public Schools have partnered to create tutoring and mentoring
opportunities for Calvin students. For the past 15-plus years, Calvin's seven
residence halls have maintained on-going partnerships with local nonprofit
organizations. And, since 1993, Calvin has provided all first-year students
with an introduction to service-learning and the city of Grand Rapids, through
its annual StreetFest program.
Bouman says the college is partnering more and more with the growing Hispanic
and Latino communities in Grand Rapids, through partnerships with Cook Library
Center, the Hispanic Center of West Michigan, United Church Outreach
Ministries, Cesar Chavez elementary school and Roosevelt Park Church, among
others.
"I hear stories every day about how Calvin College students' learning has been
enhanced through service-learning opportunities," said Bouman. "Their language
learning; their nursing practice; their teaching skills; their ability to
critically comprehend complex issues like immigration, wage theft, illiteracy,
community development and organizing for change--all of these and many more are
practical and theoretical skills that service-learning placements enable and
encourage."
Bouman says that academically based service-learning is a hallmark of a Calvin
education and it is something that in recent years has extended into Calvin's
semester abroad programming. For example, in Ghana and Peru, a course in
ethnography puts students in contact with service placements. And, in Budapest,
Hungary, students are benefiting from 20 newly developed ESL placements.
"We may not, we must not, we do not exist in an ivory tower bubble," said
Bouman of the Calvin College community. "Recognition like this award encourages
us to continue creatively and effectively engaging with community partners,
primarily in Grand Rapids, but also regionally with our spring break trips, as
well as around the world on study abroad semester programs."
For more information, contact Calvin's service-learning center at 616-526-6455
or slc@calvin.edu or contact Jeff Bouman at 616-322-4022.
For more information about the President’s Higher Education Community
Service Honor Roll, including a full list of recipients, visit
http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/initiatives/honorroll.asp
-end-

Matt Kucinski
Media Relations Manager
Calvin College
msk23@calvin.edu
616.526.8935 (office)
616.307.7429 (cell)
Received on Fri Mar 22 09:00:44 2013