Mercer Awards Flieger the Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service

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Mercer President William D. Underwood, left, presents Chelsea Flieger with the Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service.

MACON, GA (06/12/2012)(readMedia)-- Mercer University awarded Chelsea Flieger, of Suwanee, the Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service, one of the university's highest honors. Flieger received the award at the Macon campus commencement on May 12, in which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in leadership and community service summa cum laude from the College of Liberal Arts.

"I was so surprised and honored to receive this award," said Flieger. "It was definitely a shock and I feel like I have some big shoes to fill but I will do my best to live up to the award."

Flieger, a Mercer Service Scholar, has been a leader throughout her years at Mercer. Flieger, along with two other Mercer Service Scholars, helped launch the Local Engagement Against Poverty (LEAP) initiative. The effort launched last spring with the goal of educating the student body about the structural poverty in Georgia and about the realities that the working poor confront on a daily basis in addition to encouraging the student body to contribute a significant number of hours of service in the community. The focus of these community hours were on tutoring, poverty alleviation and neighborhood redevelopment. Flieger's original goal was to reach 10,000 service hours, the equivalent of nearly five hours for every undergraduate student. Flieger and the student body have reached nearly 7,000 service hours.

"For us it wasn't about getting to 10,000 hours and calling it quits, it's about helping our neighbors," said Flieger. "We will continue to keep track of hours but aren't going to run on a deadline anymore. We are just going to continue to do our best."

LEAP began as an eight-day conference with more than 700 student participants and a Service Saturday that had more than 200 volunteers at the inaugural event. Since then, Flieger has organized Service Saturdays every other week in coordination with Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Macon, Salvation Army, Rainbow House and Macon Rescue Mission. Volunteers commit their time to rebuilding and repairing homes, delivering meals to the homeless and tutoring children.

In addition to her service work, Flieger is an active member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority, Mercer Service Scholars, Phi Eta Sigma academic honor society, Omicron Delta Kappa honor society and Phi Kappa Phi honor society. Flieger served as a peer advisor and as family head and member of the Orientation Advisory Committee. She has also worked for the Office of Admissions at Mercer and served as the director of telecounseling.

Flieger was accepted to the Clinton Global Initiative University in both 2010 and 2012. She is the recipient of the Thelma "T-Lady" Ross Spirit of Mercer Award and Gulf-South Summit Award for Outstanding Student Contributions to Service-Learning. She is also the Service Project Manager for the LEAP.

About the Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service:

The Griffin B. Bell Award for Community Service is presented annually to a graduating student who best exemplifies excellence in community service. This award honors Judge Griffin B. Bell, a graduate from Mercer University's Walter F. Georgia School of Law, who was appointed Chief of Staff by Georgia Governor Ernest Vandiver, judge of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by President John F. Kennedy and served as the 72nd Attorney General of the United States nominated by President Jimmy Carter. He was an active counselor and advisor to leaders in Congress, the U.S. Attorney General's office and U.S. presidents. Judge Bell died January 5, 2009, at the age of 90.

About Mercer University

Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,300 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at four regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with four teaching hospitals - Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus - and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. www.mercer.edu

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