Obama honors Sac State ‘with distinction’
Published: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Updated: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
 "Photo: Julie Keefer - State Hornet")
Julie Keefer - State Hornet
Allison Cauton, junior government major, tutors a student with the 65th Street Corridor. Efforts of this group and others have earned Sac State national recognition.
Sacramento State was one of more than 700 universities and colleges that were recently honored by President Barack Obama’s Higher Education Community Honor Roll.
The award recognized colleges and universities that show an exemplary amount of community service. The Office of the President defined community service as any kind of volunteering, service learning, field practicum and internships, said Sheila Macias, director of Sac State’s Community Engagement Center.
Only 115 universities and colleges, including Sac State, received the title “with distinction,” which means these schools demonstrated an extraordinary amount of community service.
“We were able to identify a spectrum of community engagement at Sac State and the honor of ‘distinction’ means that we are doing something worth more recognition,” Macias said.
According to the president’s website, the benefits of the honor roll membership include earning recognition as a service leader in the community, garnering additional community partnerships and fulfilling an institution’s civic mission.
Macias said there are additional benefits. This award shows that students are doing more than just coming to school, taking their classes and leaving. This recognition could possibly help when applying for federal grants to fund Sac State’s community service programs, she said.
“This provides an opportunity for the region to have an idea of what the university is doing. This award speaks to many