De Anza College was recently awarded a share of a $270,000 civic engagement grant along with six other U.S. community colleges by the New York-based Teagle Foundation.

“We’re proud to receive this grant and very pleased that we’ll be working closely with fellow colleges committed to civic engagement,” said De Anza President Brian Murphy in a press release.

The grant will be used by the Institute of Community and Civil Engagement at De Anza to create the Civic Capacity Scholars Program, which will build students’ commitment to civic and moral responsibility.

“De Anza will use the money to support faculty development on making classes address the question ‘How do we build our commitment to civic and moral responsibility for diverse, equitable, healthy and sustainable communities?’” said ICCE Director Cynthia Kaufman.

U.S community colleges selected for the grant will work together on a three-year project, “Student Learning for Civic Capacity: Stimulating Moral, Ethical and Civic Engagement for Learning that Lasts.”

The colleges receiving the grant are Kapi’olani in Hawaii, Mesa in Arizona, Delgado in Louisiana, Raritan Valley in New Jersey and Kingsborough and Queensborough in New York.

The project is designed to build a nationwide commitment to moral and civic responsibility, according to the Teagle Foundation website.

The grant is committed to the development of humanities courses and other related fields that will educate students on their responsibility to their surrounding community.

“As part of this grant, we are moving to having a De Anza G.E.  requirement in Global Citizenship and Environmental Sustainability,” Kaufman said.  “The Academic Senate passed the concept unanimously. We are now working on getting that approved, and we are using this grant to prepare classes for that requirement if it is approved.”