David Longdon '14, a Bates economics major from Accra, Ghana, spent summer 2011 as a leadership intern with Lots to Gardens, a youth-focused organization in Lewiston. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College.

For the sixth year in a row, Bates College has received prominent federal recognition for the quality of its engagement with the community.

Bates has been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, one of a range of honors that the Corporation for National and Community Service bestows on colleges and universities whose civic engagement, service-learning and volunteerism lead to exemplary levels of meaningful outcomes.

The 2012 Honor Roll recipients were announced on March 12 at the American Council on Education’s 94th annual meeting, in Los Angeles.

The honor recognizes Bates’ commitment to significant collaborative engagement in greater Lewiston-Auburn. First named to the honor roll in its inaugural year, 2006, Bates was one of 110 colleges named to the 2012 Distinction list. Criteria for the honor include the scope and innovation of community-based projects, levels of student participation, incentives for involvement and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

The Harward Center for Community Partnerships is Bates’ hub of college-community initiatives. The center partners with more than 125 community organizations and facilitates the volunteer involvement of two-thirds of Bates students, and the academic involvement of one-third.

In the past year, through courses, theses and independent studies, 963 Bates students and 45 faculty members gave more than 41,478 documented hours of academically-based community work. Students provided more than 11,923 documented hours of volunteer service during the academic year, of which some 1,044 hours involved mentoring in local schools.

Bates student leaders are instrumental in coordinating programs, pursuing academic and work-study based initiatives, and continuing key collaborations. Specific roles include Bonner Leaders, Community-Based Research Fellows and Student Volunteer Fellows.

Administering the award is the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that leads President Obamaís national call-to-service initiative, United We Serve, and engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America programs.

The corporation oversees the honor roll in collaboration with the federal Education and Housing and Urban Development departments, as well as the Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

The Presidents’ Fourth of July Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education calls on Maine campuses to examine and expand their commitment to their communities. The presidents will join more than 450 campuses nationwide to respond to the growing cynicism and lack of trust among students about government and the political process. Several recent studies have highlighted the problem, including a 1998 report by the National Association of Secretaries of State which found less than 15 percent of college-age people voted in the last national election.

The declaration addresses two needs: the first for higher education to develop students to become responsible citizens and the second for campuses to be good citizens in their own communities. The document was developed as a call to action and adopted during a national meeting of college presidents held in Aspen, Colo., last summer.

According to Mitchell, “…higher education is the only institution in our society which has as its central purpose the continued reexamination of our society’s assumptions, the constant review of our past and the search for a better future.”

Donald W. Harward, president of Bates College and Maine Campus Compact co-chair says, “The declaration gives voice to our shared responsibility to ‘educate students for citizenship.’ Bates College’s mission and values echo this historic role in noting that ‘Bates graduates have linked education with service, leadership and obligations beyond themselves.’”

According to Theodora Kalikow, president of the University of Maine at Farmington and Maine Campus Compact co-chair, students “will be most successful if they leave an engaged campus that models best practices for its own growth and change, a campus community that reaches out into the wider world for active learning and teaching opportunities, giving and receiving through the work of students, faculty and staff.”

Presidents either signing the document today and/or submitting statements in support of the declaration include: Marylin Newell, Andover College; Donald Harward, Bates; Barry Mills, Bowdoin College; William Adams, Colby College; Joyce Hedlund, Eastern Maine Technical College; Barbara Woodlee, Kennebec Valley Technical College; Christine Vincent, Maine College of Art; David House, Saint Joseph’s College; Wayne Ross, Southern Maine Technical College; Sandra Featherman, University of New England; David Glenn-Lewin, Unity College; Peter Hoff, University of Maine; Theodora Kalikow, University of Maine at Farmington; Charles Lyons, University of Maine at Augusta; Donald Zillman, University of Maine at Fort Kent; John Joseph, University of Maine at Machias; Nancy Hensel, University of Maine at Presque Isle; and Richard Pattenaude, University of Southern Maine.

Maine Campus Compact is a consortium of 18 of Maine’s higher education institutions led by their presidents to integrate service and civic responsibility throughout the academic and student life goals of their institutions. Founded in 1994, Maine Campus Compact is affiliated with Campus Compact based at Brown University, with a national membership of more than 700 college and university presidents.

Read a transcript of the president’s remarks.