Tenessee Wesleyan College has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for 2014 by the Corporation for National and Community Service. This recognition is the highest honor a college or university can receive for its dedication to volunteer efforts and servant leadership.
Tennessee Wesleyan was recognized for its continuous community service efforts by students, faculty and staff.
Tennessee Wesleyan was previously recognized on the 2013 Honor Roll. This honor roll list includes schools that work to provide students with an enhanced college experience, emphasizing the importance of working to improve the local community and solve local problems through community service.
“This recognition celebrates the impact of the community engagement work our students, faculty, and staff engage in on a regular basis,” Mandie Thacker Beeler, Director of Tennessee Wesleyan’s Center for Servant Leadership, said. “The Tennessee Wesleyan family puts in a lot of hard work to improve our community, and making the honor roll is the ‘gold star’ that reminds us that what we are doing is important. It also celebrates the many strong partnerships we have throughout our community.”
Community service is a cornerstone of a Tennessee Wesleyan College education. Tennessee Wesleyan opened the Center for Servant Leadership in 2010, and all students are required to complete a minimum of 10 service hours per year.
“Over the past four years, the data have shown that service-learning courses improve critical thinking skills and help students develop leadership skills,” Ms. Beeler said. “Our volunteer program in general has engaged students in the civic process through service and has shown them that they can make a difference even through small acts.”
Every year, Tennessee Wesleyan students, faculty and staff participate in Day of Service, assisting with projects that help community residents, local ecosystems, and animals up for adoption. Day of Service allows the Tennessee Wesleyan family to give back to the community and assist people, organizations and businesses who have helped Tennessee Wesleyan and the local community in the past. In 2014, 210 students and 29 faculty and staff members volunteered during Tennessee Wesleyan’s fourth annual Day of Service. Tennessee Wesleyan volunteers served 1,195 hours at 19 different community sites in Athens, Etowah and Cleveland.
“Being named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll is both an honor and a challenge,” Ms. Beeler said. “It celebrates the valuable work we do in our community and challenges us to continue to find new and better ways to do more in the future. It’s definitely something Tennessee Wesleyan and our surrounding community should be proud of achieving.”
For more information about the Tennessee Wesleyan Day of Service and servant leadership, contact Tennessee Wesleyan Director of the Center for Servant Leadership Mandie Thacker Beeler by phone at 423-746-5244 or by email at mthacker@Tennessee Wesleyannet.edu.