The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) has placed Tufts on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, the quasi-public federal agency announced on Jan. 23. That recognition, which was given to 83 colleges nationwide, recognizes colleges and universities for their commitment to volunteering, service learning and civic engagement.
Tufts applied for the award, highlighting the service work of the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts Hillel, Tufts Literacy Corps and the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS).
"Tufts' selection to the president's community service honor roll is an exciting recognition of Tufts' uniquely comprehensive approach to community service," said Robert Hollister, dean of the Tisch College, an organization that focuses on the idea of active citizenship. "Ultimately, this award is [a] collective tribute to the strong, enduring initiative of Tufts as a whole."
CNCS utilizes three main criteria when selecting schools for the award: the breadth and quality of volunteers, the extent of service-learning courses the school offers and the impact the school has through community service.
CNCS spokesperson Siobhan Dugan told the Daily that over 630 colleges and universities applied for the award, which has existed since 2006.
Of the more than 630 schools that applied, six schools received the Presidential Award, 83 schools were placed on the honor roll with distinction and 546 schools were put on the honor roll.
Hollister noted that the general service- and "active citizenship"-minded culture at Tufts played a factor in the university's recognition by CNCS.
"I think a lot of it comes from the student body," he said. "Tufts continues to attract large numbers of students that are drawn to community service even before they arrive at Tufts. When they do come to Tufts, there is a very reinforcing cumulative force of the community-service energies and leadership that exist on campus."
Administrative and faculty leadership, including University President Lawrence Bacow's "extraordinary level of encouragement and visible support," also contributed to Tufts' receiving the honor, Hollister added.
Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) Co-Presidents Fred Huang and Nicole Cherng, both juniors, said that the student body's large involvement in LCS, a student-run community service umbrella organization, attests to Tufts dedication to service.
"The Leonard Carmichael Society is unique in that it's one of the few major student service organizations that is completely student-run," Huang said, adding that, with over 1,000 members, the sheer number of students involved speaks for itself.
The idea of "leadership through action" is one of the most unique features of Tufts' community service, Hollister said, noting that the extent to which faculty members involve themselves with service is especially impressive.
"We are fortunate to have a really unique, high level of faculty leadership along a much broader mix of disciplines than most other schools," he said.
Huang echoed Hollister's comments.
"Many of my professors encourage community service among their students," he said.
Hollister said that receiving the Presidential Award was a definite objective for the university.
"We are continuing to redouble our efforts and to continue our strong efforts in community service in curricular and extracurricular activities," Hollister said. "The key to reaching the next level of achievement is in raising the percentage of students doing service work and raising the quality and impact of our community relations. If we do that, I think it should make us one of the award winners in a few years."
Hollister recognized that receiving the CNCS' top honor for institutions of higher education — the Presidential Award — in the future will be more of a challenge than for other schools.
"The award criteria are not a perfect fit for the Tufts model of community service [because] there is a heavy weighting on the extent of student volunteering in the way selections are made," Hollister said. "Our comparative strength [is] having a deep integration of service into the curriculum."
Huang, on the other hand, believes that the key to Tufts' future selection may lie elsewhere.
"What can push Tufts to the next level is for all these great service groups on campus to collaborate," he said. "Right now, none of the groups talk to each other. If the groups on campus start to work together and collaborate, we can definitely reach the next level."
