Revitalizing the Community through Neighborhood and Institutional Partnerships

Abstract

Over the past six years, Springfield College has been challenged to participate in addressing the needs of the urban neighborhood in which it resides. To answer this call, the College has had to wrestle with the many challenges necessary to change the attitude of the institutional culture toward the community, and to reestablish relationships within the neighborhood. The College and community partnerships that have resulted from facing these challenges are dynamic collaborations that involve participation at all levels. Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, administrators, neighbors, leaders of community based organizations, and the governmental agencies that impact the solutions have all worked together to create service and educational programs tailored to meet the needs of children and families in the community and participants on the campus.

Urban America is where the nation’s fabric is now experiencing its most serious strain. Violence, unemployment, poverty, poor housing, and pollution often occur at the very doorsteps of some of our most distinguished colleges and universities. How can the nation’s campuses stay disengaged? Ira Harkavy, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Community Partnerships, warns that 'universities cannot afford to remain shores of affluence, self-importance, and horticultural beauty at the edge of island seas of squalor, violence and despair’ (Boyer, 1994, p. A48).