News Archives - 2012

Civic engagement, community service earn Augsburg College highest national recognition

Nearly 180,000 hours of community service by Augsburg College students last year earned the college a spot on the 2012 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction. This is the fourth time Augsburg has been named to the Honor Roll with Distinction.

"Preparing students to participate in our democracy and providing them with opportunities to take on local and global issues in their course work are as central to the mission of education as boosting college completion and closing the achievement gap," said Eduardo Ochoa, the U.S. Department of Education's assistant secretary for postsecondary education.

Last year, Augsburg achieved the highest honor possible when it was one of six institutions to earn the Presidential Award for Community Service. Augsburg was the first, and remains the only, Minnesota school to receive the honor.

"Consistently being named to the Honor Roll certainly is gratifying testament to the work of staff, students, and faculty," said Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow. "We know that learning retention soars to 75 percent when practiced by doing, and so this is an important piece of an Auggie education. We also know it is we who are richer for the experience of educating students not only for professions and careers, but also for lives of meaning and purpose in a city and world marked by urgent need for informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders."

Augsburg College students engaged in programs including the:

• President's Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge to help students explore and develop roles as public leaders around interfaith literacy and action through community service projects.
• Health Commons at Dar Ul-Quba, a drop-in center dedicated to the Cedar-Riverside community of Minneapolis.
• Bonner Leader program that pairs Augsburg students with nonprofit community organizations.
• Student-led Campus Kitchen that served 23,000 meals to people in need for the year ending in June 2011.
• Augsburg Community Garden, which provides community garden plots, education about nutrition, and support for local farmers through community-supported agriculture.

A total of 642 college and universities applied for the 2012 Honor Roll. Augsburg is one of two Minnesota private colleges named to the Honor Roll with Distinction. The other is the College of St. Benedict.