Georgia Perimeter Opens New Service Center

By Odette Yousef

Atlanta, GA – Georgia Perimeter College has opened its new Atlanta Center for Civic Engagement and Service Learning. The Center is meant to create a bridge between academics and community service. It will infuse courses across disciplines with hands-on experiences that teach students about poverty, health issues, and environmental sustainability.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter did the ribbon-cutting and delivered the keynote speech. In it, he urged students to maximize the Center's resources.

"I will guarantee you this," said Carter, "it's whenever when you think you're making sacrifice to help somebody else have a better life, it will always be a great advantage to you, and not a sacrifice." Carter added that he'd like to see other schools in the state build similar institutions.

The Center is on the 2-year college's Clarkston campus. College officials say it will have national and global impact, by partnering with other schools on new program initiatives, and research projects.