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 CommunityCampus 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
