Jersey City, N.J. – September 24, 2014 – Saint Peter’s University today announced that it has been named to the 2014 President’s Higher Education Honor Roll in the category of Interfaith Community Service. The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll was launched in 2006 and annually highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and how these initiatives can ultimately motivate students to pursue a lifelong path of civic engagement. Institutions that achieve recognition in the category of Interfaith Community Service are those that engage students, faculty and staff of diverse faiths to join forces to tackle community challenges.
“Being ‘men and women for others’ is more than just a passing phrase at Saint Peter’s,” said Eugene J. Cornacchia, Ph.D., president of Saint Peter’s University. “It is a maxim that guides a majority of our initiatives at the University. This honor is a tribute to the ongoing efforts of our Office of Campus Ministry as they engage more and more students from different backgrounds in the variety of community service activities offered at Saint Peter’s. Their combined efforts are certainly having a significant impact on the University and the surrounding community.”
Each year, more than 800 students contribute a combined total of approximately 16,000 hours of service to local, national and global organizations. Organizations include the Junkyard Dogs, a group of students and community members who regularly meet to collect litter around the local community, and the Arrupe Volunteers, a group of faculty, staff and administrators from the University who gather to share a service opportunity and reflect on the experience. Students also have collected nearly 800 pounds of food annually for local hunger prevention and volunteer their time at area food banks.
Most recently, the University celebrated the opening of its Campus Kitchen, a student-led community service project that provides free, healthy meals to local residents by using donated food that would otherwise go to waste. The University also runs the Saint Peter’s University Clothes and Food Pantry and the Emmaus Project, a weekly service program that provides bagged lunches, toiletries, clothes, coats and blankets to those in need.
The complete list of 2014 Interfaith Community Service Honor Roll recipients will be announced today at the Fourth Annual President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge Gathering. The gathering will be held at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
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Saint Peter’s University, inspired by its Jesuit, Catholic identity, commitment to individual attention and grounding in the liberal arts, educates a diverse community of learners in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs to excel intellectually, lead ethically, serve compassionately and promote justice in our ever-changing urban and global environment. To learn more, please visit www.saintpeters.edu.
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