Conference Helps Strengthen University and Community Partnerships

How do communities define engagement with institutions of higher education? What does it mean for communities to choose to engage with higher education? And what are the implications when communities call forth their university partners?

These are a few of the questions that challenged the thinking of the participants of the forth annual university-community partnership conference. "The Community Calls Forth the University," was the theme of the July campus event.

Speakers asked the audience to examine carefully how they conceptualized knowledge generation and how to respect and recognize the knowledge inherent in communities. This set the tone for interactions and exploration of different perspectives.

Keynote Speaker Alice Lovelace is one of Atlanta's premiere poets, as well as a playwright, essayist, arts-in-education consultant, and currently the national organizer for the 2007 U.S. Social Forum. Her presentation was followed by facilitated discussions through story circles designed to draw forth partici- pants' reflections on the meaning of authentic engagement.

The plenary speaker was Nadinne Cruz, internationally respected speaker, author, education consultant, and former director of the Haas Center for Public Service. She further explored the conference theme by sharing the compelling outcomes of the Community Voices project, an initiative that she played a key role in facilitating.

The conference offered a rich combination of practical and interactive workshops, case studies, best practice

Plenary speaker Nadinne Cruz (left), keynote speaker Alice Lovelace and Kathleen Arceneaux, associate director of the Service-Learning Center, participate in story sessions during the fouth annual university-community partnership conference. (photo: Lois Stephens)

presentations, and a community partners' resource fair. These opportunities helped provide the tools participants need to launch their own partnership efforts by examining critical issues and challenges of building and maintaining partnerships.

The conference is an initiative of Virginia Tech's Service-Learning Center and was co-sponsored by Community-Campus Partnership for Health, The Women and Minority Artists and Scholars Lecture Series, Virginia Tech's Graduate School, Virginia Tech's Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Phoenix Project, and the University of Virginia.

For more information about next year's conference, contact Michele James-Deramo at deramo@vt.edu.