The University has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Suffolk was recognized from the highest levels of the federal government because of its commitment to service and its mission to educate students to become lifelong learners as well as professionals who lead and serve their communities.

“It is an honor to receive this award,” said Carolina Garcia, director of Service Learning. “Our students and faculty work hard and are committed to improving the lives of others through community service and service learning in and around the Boston area.”

According to Garcia, more than 1,500 students engaged in community service through S.O.U.L.S. (Suffolk’s Organization for Uplifting Lives through Service) programs and courses this past year, completing more than 29,000 hours of community service.

Independent Sector, an organization that determines the monetary value of volunteer service, calculates that Suffolk University contributed more than $580,000 to the community through its service work. During that time, Suffolk faculty offered 63 service-learning classes and worked closely with more than 50 community-based organizations.

Suffolk received its award, in large part, due to college access programs such as Connections to College and its early-childhood program.

Connections to College, is a formal partnership with the Bird Community Center, an independent non-profit youth organization serving Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, and Hyde Park. This collaboration prepares nontraditional college-bound Boston high school students to pursue a higher education through education, mentoring, and community service-learning activities.

Jumpstart, a national non-profit organization, brings at-risk preschool children together with caring adults in one-to-one relationships that focus on language and literacy development along with social and emotional readiness. The University's Jumpstart program involves 38 Suffolk students serving nearly 50 children.

Jumpstart Boston at Suffolk University has taken part in innovative pilot programs including the “School Readiness for All” initiative in Roxbury. This initiative has been chosen as a finalist for the state’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration.