TTU honored by White House for volunteer commitment

Tennessee Tech University made the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the fourth time in six years, and the number of students committed to volunteer service is higher than ever.

Every year, thousands of student groups, organizations and individuals come together to volunteer their time to better the community. More than 7,000 students participated in service projects last year compared to fewer than 3,000 the year before.

TTU is one of 98 colleges to receive the designation.

“It becomes contagious,” said Michelle Huddleston, coordinator for the Service Learning Center. “I think the numbers over the years have shown that too, because every year I’m reporting more and more numbers. So, students see how many people have done it the previous year.”

The honor roll, launched in 2006, recognizes community service initiatives in higher education.

“It is my opinion that one of the reasons service learning and community service are growing so much at TTU is that universities across the nation are moving toward community engagement as experiential learning for students,” said Huddleston. “They learn more than just course content through hands-on activity, but also life skills, that will gain them more employable attributes. Universities across the nation are finding that this is a way to better prepare their students for the world beyond college.”