On Jan. 31, Southern Utah University received its Carnegie Classification recognizing the school for exceptional community engagement.
On Feb. 5, the school celebrated this with free cake and a brief presentation thanking both faculty and students.
The presentation began with a short video from President Scott Wyatt thanking everyone involved.
This was then followed by Dr. Earl Mulderink, the Director of the Community Engagement Center, who spoke more on the importance of the classification along with his thanks.
Mulderink described his role as being a mix of “quarterback and cheerleader.. But mostly waterboy,” before specifically thanking the various partnerships that made this classification a reality.
Mulderink emphasized that it was a team effort with many dedicated individuals working in their own programs, as well as coming together to improve the community.
In total fifteen different programs made up the SUU community engagement efforts including Shakespeare-in-the-Schools, Iron County Children Justice Center and SUU Head Start.
“Serving the public good is in the best interest of the students, faculty and of course the community,” Mulderink said to close his speech.
SUU’s various community engagement programs provide students with many options to gain practical experience in authentic learning opportunities while benefiting the community.
SUU is among only 359 universities that have received the Carnegie Classification.
The university, its teachers and its students have participated in over 200,000 hours worth of community service and are among the five percent of colleges devoted to community service.
Story by: Alex Schilling
alexschilling98@gmail.com
Photos by: Alex Schilling
