President Recognizes Azusa Pacific on Community Service Honor Roll

“This achievement affirms the ways in which service-learning and civic engagement, both locally and globally, fulfill APU’s mission as our students live out our God First legacy,” said Judy Hutchinson, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Academic Service-Learning and Research. “With more than 3,000 APU students engaged in academic service-learning, we link the university with the community in mutually beneficial ways, and build positive, reciprocal relationships between APU and the local private and public sectors,” said Hutchinson.

Working with 100 community partners through 145 courses that intentionally integrate service into the curricula, APU delivers more than 50 service-learning programs. These include College-Headed and Mighty Proud (C.H.A.M.P.), celebrating its 20th anniversary of introducing the idea of college to 700 fourth graders from six local elementary schools each year. In addition, Azusa Reads, Azusa Writes, Azusa Counts, and Azusa Calculates offer free weekly tutoring with APU students assisting nearly 300 youth annually. Furthermore, the Neighborhood Wellness Center, staffed with APU nursing students and faculty, provides no-cost health services to more than 2,000 annual visitors.

Alongside local efforts, APU impacts the global community through international outreach, with more than two dozen mission teams commissioned through the Office of World Missions and the community engagement course featured in the South Africa Semester.