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MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino and Fagan Forhan, MWCC Assistant Dean of K-12 Partnerships and Civic Engagement, were among the college and university leaders who took part in the Massachusetts Campus Compact 30th Anniversary conference this week.
More than 350 Campus Compact member chancellors and presidents, including President Asquino, have signed the Campus Compact 30th Anniversary Action Statement. The document addresses the public obligation of higher education to take specific steps to deepen their commitment to civic and community engagement for the benefit of students, communities, and the broader public.
Dr. Asquino joined approximately 80 signatory presidents and chancellors at a March 20 summit to celebrate the launch of this call to action. The event took place at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston to celebrate the launch of the call to action. The document contains a commitment by each signatory to create a Campus Civic Action Plan to be shared publicly. Campus Compact, a Boston-based nonprofit organization that works to advance the public purposes of higher education, will support campuses in developing these plans.
The summit’s agenda included sessions for presidents and chancellors to share ideas for campus-based work and to discuss coordination on national campaigns.
“Each of these institutions has already demonstrated a commitment to higher education with a higher purpose—education dedicated to service of the public good,” Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said. “We look forward to working with these universities to inspire a new generation of global leaders who are interested in not just imagining a better world, but rolling up their sleeves and doing something about it.”
Campus Compact’s focus is on supporting campuses in the work they do that advances the health and strength of communities and American democracy, both by preparing students for lives of engaged citizenship and by building partnerships to advance community and public goals.
Following the summit, Campus Compact held its 30th Anniversary Conference, attended by 650 participants.
Ms. Forhan joined Jen Domagal-Goldman, National Manager of the American Democracy Project, and Gabriel Arteaga, National Manager of The Democracy Commitment, to present on the work taking place at MWCC to assess civic learning and how it can begin to create pathways from community colleges to four-year institutions.
She also met with members of the state Vision Project team to discuss how Massachusetts public higher education institutions plan to begin reporting civic learning data to Department of Higher Education for The Vision Project.