The Brown & White

Lehigh was recently named to the 2007 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

The award recognizes community service offices around the nation that provide service projects enhancing the campus climate.

The community service offices are judged by the quality of the programs,, the amount of students involved and the amount of alumni enrolled in AmeriCorps, PeaceCorps, the Army, Navy or ROTC.

Carolina Hernandez, director of the community service office, said Lehigh owes this recognition to the effectiveness of events sponsored by the community service office and the increase in service among the student body.

"Overall the community service office has grown immensely in the past two years in thoughtful and deliberate ways," she said. "Programs are growing, but we are not sacrificing quality, so we are able to make an impact in the community."

Hernandez credits the award to the hard work students have put into service endeavors.

"I think the community service office at Lehigh is unique because it's truly a student-led office," she said. "We have a diverse group of students. They are passionate and involved and motivated to do things well. When you have that kind of generated interest, our programs are just that much more successful."

Graduate Assistant Lisa Catullo, and Tiffany Searles ,'08, helped Hernandez compile the apply for the award.

Catullo said she attributes the success of the community service office to its ability to synergize organizations across campus. She said Searles coordinated service roundtables that enabled the office to identify the needs of the community and contact group representatives to create effective service events, as opposed to several small projects.

According to Catullo, the efficiency of the student volunteers to implement significant events stem from Hernandez's passion for service.

"When she became the director, the community service office really turned into what it is," Catullo said.

"Sky's the limit within reason," Searles said. "[Hernandez] backs us in anything we want to do."

Under Hernandez's leadership, 50 to 70 percent of the campus engages in at least one service program per year. This semester, students have logged approximately 25,000 service hours thus far. In 2007, the community service office reported a total of 50,000 hours of service, which was an increase from the 35,000 to 40,000 that was reported in 2006.

"I'm so proud of the staff," Hernandez said. "They worked really hard. I'm really proud of the work day in and day out that the community service staff produces. I'm honored to work with such an amazing group of students."

Searles said she commends the community service office for the quality of the programs.

"We sometimes fly by the seat of our pants to get things done like most offices do," she said. "But if it won't be done well, we won't implement it or do it," Searles said.

Searles said coordinating volunteer events is a life-changing experience that guided her passions into meaningful work in Lehigh's community.

The success of the community service office can be credited to the ability to identify specific needs within the community, she said. The office coordinates programs year-round, instead of during holidays when service is most prevalent.

Some of the most successful service programs are America Reads and Counts, Spring SERVE, Spooktacular and the newly created VITA tax program.

Catullo said the different types of programs offered are expanding due to leadership and student efforts.

Among her most memorable experience as the graduate assistant was being a site leader for the Summer SERVE trip working on a Native American reservation in South Dakota.

"The experience I had there was really impacting," Catullo said. "It was really amazing getting to know a different culture right in our own country. Getting to see a different part of the world meant a lot to me."

Catullo said she cherishes the experiences of working in the community service office.

"We are very proud of the effort everyone in the office has put forth to make many great things happen in the community, Bethlehem, the campus and beyond," Catullo said.