1st Edition
Exploring Equitable Community–Campus Relationships
This volume offers replicable approaches for centering equity as a core value in community–campus relationships.
Through interrogation of contemporary practice, chapter authors examine the many ways in which equity is deliberately centered in community relationships, practices, research, and pedagogies, thereby accounting for how equity is defined, perceived, and shaped across diverse cultures, perspectives, and institutions. With a focus on relationship-building as a pathway to meaningful community engagement, contributors reflect on successes, obstacles, and moments of vulnerability, describing how relationships were initiated and lessons learned to ensure equitable values were centered and upheld. The text concludes with a meaningful discussion on the implications of these practices and the future of this work: equity continues to be a foundational element of any community–campus partnership.
This book will be an essential resource for academics and communities alike, particularly community partners, graduate students, scholars, and faculty who seek to center equity within their community-engaged work.
Introduction: The Contemporary Landscape of Equity with Higher Education
Karla Bird, Suchitra V. Gururaj, and Cindy Vincent Claar
PART I Introduction: Frameworks of Equitable Community Engagement
Andrea L. Robles
1 Sites of Resistance, Sites of Healing: Equitable Community Partnerships Through Local Resident Engagement
Castel V. Sweet and April Grayson
2 Putting the 6 Rs into Practice: Building an Equitable Collaboration between Indigenous Communities and a Western University
Helen Augare (Piikani), Béítouchíít’ɔ Red Belt Terry Brockie (’Ɔ’ɔìɔìɔìniinén’i), Kristen Byrne, Xavier Hawley (’Ɔì’ɔɔɔníííh), Ken Tuffy Helgeson, Deserae Kill Eagle, Frederick Peck, Aaron Thomas, Melissa Little Plume Weatherwax (Piikani), and Alicia Yellow Owl (Piikani)
3 Research Engagement Readiness: Preparing Community and Academic Partners for Bidirectional Engagement and Equitable Partnership
Tilicia Mayo-Gamble, Jennifer Cunningham-Erves, Alexis Gorden, Lanese Campbell, Calvin C. Barlow, Jr., Vickie Harris, and Doreen Ugwu
PART II Centering Equity through Authentic Relationships and Co-Design Approaches
Cindy Vincent Claar
4 Nurturing the Vā in Community–Campus Partnerships with the Sāmoan Community in Oceanside, CA
Grant Mua-gututi‘a, Theresa C. Suarez, and Madeline Y. Lee
5 Building Equity through Partnership: Developing a Rural Health Equity Resource Hub for Gender-Based Violence Survivors in Rural Western Kansas
Ziwei Qi, Naishuo Sun, Rachel Dolechek, Daniel Bechle, Kayla Knier, and Tammie West
6 Literacy as a Weapon: Empowering Black Youth through Equitable Community Engagement
Starr Armstrong and Brooke Covington
7 Equitable Community Engagement: A Case Study on Blending Social Impact and Social Justice Perspectives in Service-Learning Contexts
Leandra H. Hernández, Stevie M. Munz, and Sherry Almquist
PART III Introduction: Centering Equity through Authentic Relationships and Co-design Approaches
Karla Bird
8 Toward Epistemic and Environmental Equity in Campus/Community Relationships
Tashina J. Vavuris, Karen Crespo Triveño, Agustín Angel Bernabe, Magaly Santos, and Flora Lu
9 Solutions Not Studies: Lessons Learned and Suggestions for Co-produced Arctic Research
Sean Gleason, Lynn Marie (Kic'i) Church, and Warren Jones
10 Detroit’s Climate Justice Journey: Centering Community Empowerment in University Partnerships
Diana Wasaanangokwe Seales, Kim Sherobbi, Neeraja Aravamudan, and Lissy Goralnik
11 Bridging Cultures: Equitable Academic-Community Engagement in West Philadelphia
Parfait Kouacou and Eric Edi
PART IV Introduction: Lessons Learned through Tensions and Obstacles
Sara B. Moore
12 Dancing Toward Equity: Decolonizing Land Grant Engagement with Indigenous Communities
Ronald J. Orchard, Andrew Pearl, and Deon LaPointe
13 Equity and Belonging in Community Archiving: The Arkansas Chinese Heritage Project
Emerald J. Dunn and Zach Smith
14 Navigating Power, Equity, and Co-creation in a Community–University Partnership: Critical Reflections on the Long-term Relationship between Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative and Tufts University
Penn Loh, Zoë Ackerman, Joceline Fidalgo, Minnie McMahon, and John Smith
15 From Students to Partners: Negotiating Equity in Community Engagement Projects between First-year College Students and Early-career Professional Community Partners
Jake Kurczek, Maggie Baker, Katie Maloney, Max Ellenbecker, Katlynne Wolf, Heloisa Sader Teixeira, and Drew Diers
PART V Introduction: The Institutionalization of Equity as a Pathway to Sustainability
Suchitra Gururaj
16 Field Experience in a Third Space: Centering Equity and the Voices of Community-based Partners in an Introductory Field Experience for Novice Teacher Candidates
Jennifer K. Shah, Jan Fitzsimmons, Amy Logan, and Brian Spychalski
17 Grounded in Community: Transformative Relationships in an Evolving Campus–Community Partnership for Equity
Omar Carrera, Lucia Leon, Julia van der Ryn, and Emily S. Wu
18 Building an Equitable Community–Campus Relationship through Exploring the Great Things Together: The Experience of Collaborative Badlands USR in Taiwan
Hsiu-Tzu Betty Chang, Liu-Tsu Chen, Cheng-Ta Lai, Makidkid Tavali, Chun-Po Chang, and Shu-Ting Liang
19 Conclusion: A Path Forward Together
Sara B. Moore, Andrea L. Robles, and Cindy Vincent Claar
Biography
Karla Bird is Tribal Outreach/Relations Specialist at the University of Montana.
Suchitra V. Gururaj is the inaugural Assistant Vice President for Community and Economic Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin.
Sara B. Moore is Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology at Salem State University.
Andrea Robles is a sociologist at the Office of Research and Evaluation at AmeriCorps.
Cindy Vincent Claar is Director of Strategic Initiatives and Communication at Boston University.
“This book makes a significant contribution to the scholarship on community engagement in higher education as it meets the current moment. For the community engagement field, it expands on the difficult but necessary work that has been building for a decade examining how power, politics, positionality, identity, and implication are addressed by community engagement. It meets the current moment by courageously standing firm against attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion on colleges and universities. Equitable community engagement provides a way for institutions of higher education to claim their larger purpose of building a multiracial democracy committed to equity. In the current dark times, this book shines as a beacon of hope.”
John Saltmarsh, Professor Emeritus, Higher Education, UMass Boston
"This volume is ground-breaking for scholars, educators, and administrators committed to sustainable community-campus partnerships. The contributors provide rich detail about their processes, lessons learned, and best practices that center community needs and culture."
Loan Dao, Professor of Asian & Asian American Studies, CSU Los Angeles
"This important volume calls attention to exciting, multidisciplinary efforts to foster equitable community engagement. Practitioners within and beyond academia will gain deeper understanding of methods for collaborative and intentional work across universities and communities, and they will find their own work greatly enriched by the frameworks and examples showcased."
Roopika Risam, Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies and of Comparative Literature, Dartmouth College
“Exploring Equitable Community–Campus Relationships is a timely and thoughtful exploration of how colleges and universities approach community engagement. Drawing from various institutional and community contexts, the contributors present theoretical frameworks and practical strategies that interrogate traditional, often extractive, engagement models. The collection's explicit focus on equity as a practice that requires intentionality, shared power, and accountability is a standout feature. Some case studies demonstrate how institutional constraints of community engagement risk exacerbating cultural harm and community distrust. In contrast, others provide practical strategies that produce co-created knowledge and sustained, meaningful partnerships, offering a sense of optimism. The strength of this collection lies in its candor and commitment to transformation and its audacity to reimagine how colleges and universities embody collaborative partnerships with the community to sustain substantial and lasting change.”
Joseph L. Lewis, Ph.D, Associate Dean for Access, Diversity, & Inclusion, Princeton University
