For the sixth consecutive year, Marymount University has been named to the President\u0092s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Inclusion on the Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its community service work.<\/p>\n
Last year, more than 1,500 Marymount students gave more than 31,000 hours of service in the Washington, D.C., area and beyond. They tutored children, judged school science fairs, distributed food to the homeless and provided health care services at community clinics.<\/p>\n
\u0093We\u0092re very grateful for the acknowledgement,\u0094 said Meg Dalmut, Marymount\u0092s associate director of community engagement. \u0093This shows that we\u0092re a leader among the country\u0092s colleges and universities. Everything we do has a service and social justice component because that\u0092s always been the core mission of the sisters who founded our university, the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary.\u0094<\/p>\n
The culture of service emerges organically on the Marymount campus. Annual school tradition kicks off the academic year with a Volunteer Service Day for students, faculty, staff and alumni that serves to introduce students to community service as a lifetime habit. During last year\u0092s Alternative Spring Break, students worked with at-risk students in Philadelphia, repaired homes in rural Kentucky and helped care for people living in shelters in Jamaica. Marymount awards Spirit of Service Scholarships to students demonstrating academic achievement and outstanding commitment to service. Recipients contribute 60+ hours of scheduled community service per semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Faculty integrates service-learning into curriculum for nursing and physical therapy, biology, education and marketing students.\u00a0 An ongoing science and math tutoring partnership with Ft. Belvoir Elementary School will this year see 70 Marymount students volunteering at Operation Patriotic STEM, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics science festival. Education and physical science students assist with all the hands-on projects \u0096 from creating and launching stomp rockets to making seed buddies that use body heat to germinate seeds \u0096 and act as science fair judges. The Marymount Science Club organized a now-annual girls\u0092 science day for a D.C.-area middle school that serves many low-income families. Marymount established and runsa Nurse Managed Health Center in partnership with an area church, providing screenings and health education for a largely lower-income, immigrant population. Nursing students also work in school clinics screening children, and with a local nonprofit, providing health services at homeless shelters.<\/p>\n
An initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the 2014 President\u0092s honor roll highlights the role colleges and universities play in solving community problems and placing students on a lifelong path of civic engagement.<\/p>\n