Lindsay France/University Photography
Tom Fontaine speaks at "Town-Gown Best Practices, and Related Challenges and Opportunities," sponsored by the Campus-Community Coalition, at Ithaca High School, Oct. 16.
Lindsay France/University Photography
Community members engage at the town-gown event at Ithaca High School.
Members of the Cornell and Ithaca communities gathered Oct. 16 at a forum hosted by the Campus-Community Coalition that addressed ways to facilitate communication between institutions of higher education and the neighborhoods in which they reside.
Jim Fitzgerald and Tom Fountaine, current and past presidents of the International Town-Gown Association, respectively, led the talk in the Ithaca High School Cafeteria. Fitzgerald, associate director of community relations at the University of Virginia, told the audience of more than 50 community members: “My purpose is to say your community and my community have some similarities. We, therefore, have some opportunities to learn from each other.”
Since joining UVA in 2005, Fitzgerald has developed a greater appreciation for the energy and focus that goes into maintaining the positive reputation of a university. His Charlottesville neighborhood and university campus saw public relations crises arise when the university built a “town monster” parking lot and a fraternity house planned to expand at the center of the town.
He fostered positive community-university relations through Neighborhood Advisory Group meetings and a Planning and Coordination Council. Group meetings were intended to build sustained dialogue between community members who could “nag” university representatives about their grievances and see them through to responsive completion. The council, on the other hand, bridges conversation about high-level topics of mutual interest, such as roadway construction or local demolition projects.
More strides to build university involvement in the community were taken in the annual United Way Lawrence E. Richardson Day of Caring that sees employees volunteer on more than 100 public projects. “Our employees are generous to a fault,” Fitzgerald said. “We hold an annual campaign through which university members donated $1.1 million to community-based charities voluntarily last year alone.”
Fountaine, borough manager of State College, Pa., home of Penn State University, spoke to the relationship of colleges and universities to their home communities from a municipal perspective.
“Town-community relations is a full-contact sport,” said Fountaine. “We collect a lot of data in State College. The No. 1 critical point is to get common goals. Next, we must establish what a communal idea of success looks like.”
Students and neighbors alike rate their town as a great place to live, but Fountaine recognized a disconnect between what the university thinks is success and what the community views as success. Penn State’s Office of Community Engagement is the first defense against such growing discontent.
The office runs programs specifically related to neighborhood engagement, such as the LION (Living in One Neighborhood) Walk. It’s organized in the beginning of the fall semester when student disturbances are found to be highest. Teams are composed of uniformed police officers, Penn State representatives and students. The walk seeks to build community social capital by raising awareness of student-safety during social events.
“It’s been a learning experience, and I can tell you we’ve learned a lot,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re not who we were 20 years ago, nor are the expectations from our community the same.”
The Campus-Community Coalition is a joint initiative of Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College. The event attracted officials from Cornell, the city of Ithaca, Tompkins County, the Ithaca City School District, local business organizations and neighborhood associations.
Mark Ezzo ’14 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.
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