Building Bridges Strengthening Campus Community Partnerships

Eight student-led projects that aim to break down campus divisions — through talks, film screenings, and art installations — won funding from the 2025-26 President’s Building Bridges Fund. The presidential initiative, which seeks to build community across faiths, cultures, and backgrounds, received three times as many applications and is funding twice as many projects as it did in its inaugural round last... Grantees, led by students from the College and six graduate Schools, were awarded up to $5,000 and will launch projects during winter and spring 2026. “There is interest across the University in creating new opportunities to deepen connections, build understanding, and strengthen relationships,” said Harvard President Alan M. Garber. “The threefold increase in Building Bridges applications this year demonstrates students’ eagerness to take risks and to learn from one another.

It is an exciting and promising sign of renewal within our community, and I am honored to support an excellent slate of projects.” Last year, student project leaders took a variety of approaches to fostering respectful dialogue among their peers on challenging issues. This year is no different. Projects will delve into a diverse set of topics, including exploration of the rural-urban divide, progressive-conservative values, Black and Jewish solidarity, and shared identity through art. “Our students continue to show that building community across difference is not an abstract aspiration but a daily practice they are eager to pursue,” said Sherri Ann Charleston, chief community and campus life officer... “From the Law School to the College, our students are seeking not just to coexist, but to understand.

These selected projects capture that spirit perfectly, utilizing everything from the arts to structured policy debate to weave a stronger, resilient community at Harvard.” Our grants support field-initiated research, career-development for early-career faculty, institutional change at universities, and projects to strengthen youth service nonprofits in New York City. Our mission is to support research to improve the lives of young people ages 5-25 in the United States. We pursue this mission by building bodies of useful research within two primary focus areas. The William T. Grant Foundation has been dedicated to supporting research in the social sciences since 1936.

Sarah Lee AI generated Llama-4-Maverick-17B-128E-Instruct-FP8 6 min read · May 24, 2025 Discover the power of community partnerships in educational curriculum, and learn how to create impactful collaborations that benefit students and communities alike. Community partnerships have emerged as a vital component in enhancing educational experiences, fostering community engagement, and promoting social responsibility. In this article, we will explore the benefits, challenges, and best practices for creating successful community partnerships in educational settings. Community partnerships offer a wide range of benefits for students, educators, and the community at large. Some of the most significant advantages include:

Community partnerships provide students with opportunities to engage in real-world projects, applying theoretical knowledge to practical problems. This approach not only enhances student learning experiences but also helps to develop essential skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration. "Community partnerships provide a unique opportunity for students to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world settings, making learning more relevant and engaging." - 1 Harvard Funds Student “Bridges” Projects Harvard University | PHOTOGRAPH BY NIKO YAITANES/HARVARD MAGAZINE On Thursday, Harvard announced a second round of funding for student-led projects designed to build community and break down divisions on campus.

Part of the President’s Building Bridges Fund, the eight new projects each will receive up to $5,000 in funding and will launch during winter and spring 2026. Drawn from across the University, they include discussions, film screenings, and one online genetic map. The Bridges Fund was established last fall, following recommendations in the task force reports on antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias. The program subsidizes initiatives led by students that promote relationships and dialogue among those from different perspectives and backgrounds, counteract harassment and discrimination, and improve listening and cooperative problem-solving. Last February, three projects won funding. The projects whose work will get underway in 2026 involve lots of conversations, in both formal and informal settings, some among students and others involving scholars and other experts.

One project, organized by students at the Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, is titled “Whose Genes?” It will include an online map and “conversation space” exploring different perspectives on genetics, inheritance, and... According to Harvard’s announcement, the project is built from 50 interviews with faculty experts, questions collected from the Harvard community, and a public panel of scholars with contrasting views. The purpose is to “deepen public understanding of genetics, challenge deterministic assumptions, and encourage thoughtful engagement with questions about identity, biology, and difference.” This November 2024 guidebook offers higher education practitioners actionable strategies for building and sustaining partnerships that both meet regional needs and support students, families, and communities. This work was based on the design and delivery of dual enrollment pathways as part of the Lab’s Designers in Residence 2.0: Accelerating Pathways project. This paper outlines a collaborative university-community initiative, Building Bridges, Not Walls: The Democracy and Diversity Project.

Building Bridges emphasizes the critical role of community engagement in reducing barriers to democratic participation, social equity, and student success. In pursuit of these outcomes, we present a model of a sustainable, accessible, and cross-disciplinary network of sequenced engagement projects. The interconnected cross-curricular projects are mutually designed and implemented with community partners, providing an emulatable case study to promote civic engagement in multiple contexts and communities. Building Bridges mobilizes sociological theory to consider the question of how universities can be regularly engaged with our communities in a consistent, collaborative, and sustainable manner. Informed by 'service sociology' literature we outline four stages of our Building Bridges model: design, implementation, evaluation, and reflective revision. These stages are concretized through application to our public university and community, providing a template for other universities and communities to follow.

We propose integrated engagement as a means for universities to combat challenges to equity and diversity. As our communities face unprecedented tests to our democratic institutions, we contend that community engagement is higher education’s keenest armament. Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Augustana University Clinical Psychologist, Andwell Health Partners, Therapy and Early Learning Services USM Graduate 2022, University of Southern Maine Anderson, D., & Harris, B.

(2005). Teaching social welfare policy: A comparison of two pedagogical approaches. Journal of Social Work Education, 41(3), 511-526. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2005.200303120 This presentation explores how strong campus partnerships influence IT and change management success. Attendees will learn practical ways to build and nurture campus partnerships, get insights on how to effectively leverage relationships with key campus partners to achieve outcomes, and have the opportunity to apply their learnings...

Hapy Ting is a seasoned communications professional with a background in content writing, digital marketing, and social media community management. She joined UCR ITS as a Communication Specialist, focusing on IT project communications and change management. She recently earned the distinction of being a Prosci Certified Change Practitioner. Prior to joining UCR ITS, she was the social media community manager of well-known consumer brands in the Philippines, including Pizza Hut and KFC. She also spent time as a content writer for digital and content marketing agencies, and as a Program Manager for Microsoft Education APAC. Hapy is passionate about connecting with people, with a penchant for building relationships over a cup of coffee.

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