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Chapter 7. University as Convener: Syracuse, Minnesota, LeMoyne-Owen, and Emory
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89 The four schools reviewed in this chapter—Syracuse University; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; LeMoyne-Owen College; and Emory University—are marked by their strategic choice to engage in collaborative community development efforts. Not faced with an immediate safety threat (as were Penn, Cincinnati, and Yale), but still embracing the service component of their institutional mission, these schools have had greater flexibility to focus partnerships and resources on the broader community. With a vision of comprehensive neighborhood revitalization, the institutions described here have chosen to adopt a placebased strategy as a part of a larger community engagement agenda, focusing resources on non-adjacent neighborhoods, where issues of poverty and economic decline are most acute. (LeMoyne-Owen is the notable exception, as the college is located within its community of need.) This investment in a focused place-based strategy sets these schools apart from the facilitator model, while their participatory and coalition-based approach to engagement and community-based agenda-setting marks a clear contrast with the university-directed leadership model. Critically, these institutions have all worked to forge liaisons—both human and physical—to more closely align themselves with the needs and voices of the community. As conveners, these schools bring in community organizations and residents as co-participants in planning and operations, and ultimately as “owners” of neighborhood revitalization. In a similar fashion, these universities help to build capacity among residents and community institutions. Project-based partnerships in health and education are seen at each of these institutions, often in support of the broader community development agenda. Support from top administration, as well as some degree of institutional alignment, has helped focus university-wide resources on key community initiatives. However, unlike the efforts of Penn, Yale, and Cincinnati, direct corporate investment has been more limited. Instead, these institutions have relied on leveraging public and private funds in support of C H A P T E R 7 University as Convener: Syracuse, Minnesota, LeMoyne-Owen, and Emory C h a p t e r 7 90 their community development agendas. The logic of these four schools’ strategies is explored in further detail below. Syracuse University This is our identity as an institution. Our areas of excellence are completely compatible with the future opportunity of these neighborhoods, so it really is mutually beneficial. —Nancy Cantor, president and chancellor, Syracuse University, interview by Rita Axelroth Hodges, Syracuse, NY, May 29, 2009 As a private research university that literally sits up on a hill overlooking downtown Syracuse and its surrounding neighborhoods, Syracuse University could easily exist in its distant ivory tower. Indeed, in the early 1990s, Chancellor Shaw made an intentional move to consolidate the university on its main campus. His thinking was that, if the city failed, Syracuse University could survive. When Chancellor Nancy Cantor—a social psychologist and leader in the higher education engagement movement—arrived on campus in 2004, however, she viewed the university as “an incredible test bed of how a private university, as a place-based Figure 9. Syracuse Anchor Approach Comprehensive Neighborhood Revitalization • NearWestSideInitiative:revitalizing neighborhoodthroughpropertyacquisitionand renovationofexistinghomes,withafocuson artsandculture,in11-blockarea • SouthSideInitiativefocusesoneconomicand communitydevelopment Community Economic Development through Corporate Investment • Supporttominority-andwomen-owned businessesthroughtrainingsandmentorship, aswellasexclusivebidopportunities(8%of totalpurchasing) • Conveyeconomicinclusionprinciplesto contractors • HomeOwnershipGrantandGuaranteed MortgageProgramextendtoNearWestSide Local Capacity Building • NearWestSideInitiativeestablishedas independent501(c)3withsharedleadership • SouthSideInnovationCentersupportswomen andminorityentrepreneurs(assistedin developmentof45newbusinessesand profitableturnaroundof58others) • SouthSideInitiativeworkingtodevelopfood co-opandothercommunity-ownedbusinesses • Partnershipwithlocalfoundationfor residenttraininginNearWestSide Public Education and Health Partnerships • SayYestoEducation,inpartnershipwith SyracuseCitySchoolDistrict,provides comprehensiveservicesandpromiseoffree collegetuition Academic Engagement • “ScholarshipinAction”:morethan 400studentsand75facultyinvolvedin NearWestSideInitiativealone • Tenureandpromotionchangestosupport engagedscholarship • ImaginingAmerica(housedatSU):public scholarshipinthearts,humanitiesand design • EntrepreneurshipInitiativethroughthe KauffmanFoundation Multi-Anchor, City, and Regional Partnerships • ConnectiveCorridor:multisectorpartnership creatingculturalstripthatconnects UniversityHilltodowntown • LeaderofSayYestoEducationconsortiaof morethan100private...
