By Suzanne Perry

President Obama made another pitch for community service today while praising President George H.W. Bush for ushering in a new spirit of volunteerism with his inaugural call for “a thousand points of light” 20 years ago.

“He didn’t call for one blinding light shining from Washington,” he told an audience that included Mr. Bush at an event at Texas A&M University to commemorate the anniversary. “He didn’t call for a few bright lights from the biggest nonprofits. But he called for a vast galaxy of people and institutions working to solve problems in their own back yard.”

President Obama urged students in the audience to emulate Mr. Bush and develop a “public-service mind-set,” highlighting the former president’s World War II combat missions, his government positions, and his work with President Clinton to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The “presidential forum on service” spotlighted the Points of Light Institute, a volunteer and civic-engagement group that is the successor to the Points of Light Foundation, which was created to carry out Mr. Bush’s volunteerism push. The foundation merged with the HandsOn Network just over two years ago. (See an article in The Chronicle about how that merger evolved.)

A number of government officials and philanthropic leaders attended the Texas event, along with 150 of the more than 4,000 volunteers who have won daily Point of Light Awards over the last 20 years.

Michelle Nunn, chief executive of the Points of Light Institute, gave a Daily Point of Light Award at the event to Mallory Meyers, a junior at Texas A&M University who is director of the Big Event, an annual one-day project in which thousands of students do volunteer work in the surrounding area.