Charlottesville, Va. – March 28, 2023 – Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) has been awarded Campus Compact’s Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Institutional Transformation. The national award recognizes community colleges that have successfully implemented institution-wide efforts to address issues of public concern by aligning teaching, research, practice and values in service of the common good. Recipients are institutions that have undertaken comprehensive efforts to advance the values articulated in Campus Compact’s 30th Anniversary Action Statement of Presidents and Chancellors.

Piedmont Virginia Community College was founded on the belief that education transforms lives and strengthens communities. PVCC’s commitment to preparing students for lives of engaged citizenship is evidenced by curricular and co-curricular activities. For the past three years, PVCC has offered civic engagement classes in each major and made them a requirement for graduation. PVCC maintains a deep emphasis on civic learning and action—engaging students in its “PVCC Votes!” initiative, facilitating campus-wide deliberative dialogues and garnering numerous recognitions for on-campus voter engagement.

PVCC President Jean Runyon shared, “Our commitment to community impact includes a bold pledge to prepare students for lives of engaged citizenship. We believe our civic engagement work contributes to the economic, civic and cultural vitality of our region, the Commonwealth of Virginia, our nation and the world. As we embark on our next 50 years of excellence and impact, we will continue to promote civic engagement as a core element of our mission as a college.”

The Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Institutional Transformation is presented as part of Campus Compact’s Impact Awards, which recognize the outstanding work of individuals and institutions in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education. Visit https://compact.org/news/campus-compact-announces-2023-impact-award-recipients to see all award recipients.

Awardees will be recognized during a summer event series hosted by Campus Compact and the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) to celebrate the recipients of each organization’s annual awards.

To learn more about civic engagement at PVCC, visit pvcc.edu/civicsense.