WHEELING, W. Va. – Wheeling Jesuit University has been recognized once again for living out its mission to educate men and women in service of others.
For the second straight year, Wheeling Jesuit has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The honor roll recognizes the university as a national leader among institutions of higher education for its support of volunteering, service learning and dedication to achieving meaningful outcomes in their local communities.
"We are proud to once again be named to the President’s Honor Roll for Community Service," said Fr. James Fleming SJ, the University’s Executive Vice President "Our tradition of academic based, service-learning, outreach service through Campus Ministry and service-immersion trips continue to be a cornerstone of a Wheeling Jesuit education. Nearly every student on campus is involved in service of some sort - locally, nationally or globally, - and our Service for Social Action Center is an integral part of campus life."
Wheeling Jesuit students provided more than 26,000 hours of service during the 2011-12 academic year. Two hundred fifty one students were engaged in academic service learning, and in total, 922 students engaged in community service of all sorts.
Highlighting the year of service, WJU is the only college in West Virginia to mentor and support incarcerated individuals. Through the Adolescent Mentoring Program (A.M.P.), WJU students work with troubled youth in a Wheeling-area detention center. Other Wheeling Jesuit students actively participate in service projects such as the Special Olympics, the Wheeling Sleep-out and the HESS mentoring program.
“I think our tradition of service at Wheeling Jesuit gives our students real world experience and a look into life outside the college ‘bubble,’” said Adrienne Tharp ’08, director of the SSAC. “Some students have changed their career path because of their service experience. I think service helps them find their voice in knowing what they can do to make the world a better place. Service also helps them live up to the Jesuit mission of being men and women for others.”
The Community Service Honor Roll was launched in 2006 and is the highest federal recognition a college or university can achieve for its commitment to service learning and civic engagement. It 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, measureable outcomes in the communities they serve.
The 2013 Honor Roll recipients were announced at the American Council on Education's 95th Annual Meeting, Leading Change, on March 4 in Washington, D.C.
Honorees were chosen based on a series of selection factors, including the scope and innovation of service projects, the extent to which service learning is embedded in the curriculum, the school’s commitment to long-term campus-community partnerships and measurable community outcomes as a result of the service.
A global leader in academic excellence, undergraduate research and service learning, Wheeling Jesuit University is ranked in the top 10 percent of the nation's colleges by Forbes Magazine. One of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Wheeling Jesuit has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top university for the past 15 years.
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Photo Captions:
1. Freshmen students, Torrie Landgraf, Amy Schattel, Rebecca Brown, Rachel Wadell, Erica Strope, and Sarah Sleevi, spent a Saturday at Catholic Neighbor-good sorting through thousands of donations with other WJU students.
2. Junior Amanda Schultz works on a housing project in East Wheeling.
3. Sophomores Patrick Washington, Marque Marry, and Emily Amos spent an afternoon working in one of the community gardens in East Wheeling.
