Reaching Out to the Urban Community

Presidency, The, Fall 2009 by Allen-Meares, Paula

Public universities, urban ones in particular, can play a significant role in supporting our cities and contributing to the state's economic base. As the Chicago area's largest university and one of its 20 largest employers, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has the unique opportunity- and responsibility-to advance the quality of life for its residents, and further, for citizens of the state, the nation, and the world.

By forging partnerships with organizations and businesses in the surrounding community, universities can share their knowledge and resources, gather data for novel research, and challenge their students to put new skills to the test in real-world situations. For UIC, these partnerships are the brick-and-mortar actualization of our social compact as we embrace our land-grant mission.

Community engagement is embodied in the UIC Great Cities Commitment, which includes hundreds of programs designed to foster affordable housing, economic development, health, and education in Chicago and other urbanized regions around the world. Founded in 1993, Great Cities partners the university's teaching and research resources with government, community organizations, nonprofits, and the corporate and civic sectors. Great Cities is campus-wide-a shared undertaking of all 15 campus colleges involving hundreds of students, faculty, staff, and more than 1,000 external partners.

The UIC Neighborhoods Initiative, an integral part of the Great Cities Commitment, is a partnership among faculty, staff, and students, and community organizations in the neighborhoods adjacent to campus. Together, we strive to improve the quality of life for residents and advance the goals of businesses, the university, and the city.

These community-based partnerships and research collaborations allow students and faculty to apply theories to real-life contexts. Although the study of theory produces a strong intellectual foundation in our students, the real need is the ability to translate learned theories into action. The opportunity to contextualize and practice what we teach and study, and further, to learn from our communities and from their shared experiences, is perhaps the greatest benefit.

Many of our students are the first in their families to attend college, and some are recent immigrants. UIC has long been a gateway to the American dream, as befits its location on Chicago's Near West Side, where Jane Addams' Hull House aided earlier generations of immigrants and disadvantaged Chicagoans. Then, as now, great urban cities have significant challenges, but in working together, we can improve with each generation and develop the world's metropolitan regions into more humane and sustainable environments.

Paula Allen-Meares is chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago.