What role should universities play in social justice and community development?

In the United States, public education is hailed as both an objective spreader of knowledge and as the glue that binds our immigrant society together through the creation of common culture and values. But in reality, it seems that one purpose dominates the other.

In the perceptive article, “What Kind of Citizen?” Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne question the goals of our educational system. What kind of citizen does our system develop, and what kind of citizen is most desirable? Their research concludes that the classroom-oriented public school system biases towards “personally responsible citizens” who are obedient and moral followers of the system. More applied educational pedagogies create proactive “participatory citizens” or “justice-oriented citizens” by linking academic education with experiential learning and applied skills.

These educational ideologies lead to real differences in students’ approach to civic engagement and social justice. In Kahne and Westheimer’s example, personally responsible citizens might donate to a food drive, participatory citizens might organize a food drive, and justice-oriented citizens might ask why people are hungry in the first place. In a way, the current system protects and perpetuates itself by encouraging personally responsible citizenship instead of nurturing young citizens with hands-on attitudes towards government and systemic change. Where in this spectrum should the university situate itself?

Universities, too, decide how to engage (or not to engage) with social justice issues based on their underlying educational pedagogy. Higher education is often idealized as objective and rational, not imbued with a social justice ideology. Yet Kahne and Westheimer reveal that every educational approach is part of a political ideology. Furthermore, it would be naïve to view universities simply as educators. Their economic power in their neighborhoods has ranged from that of slumlord to real estate and employment competitor to business partner. Because colleges’ large sunk investments in their campuses root them to the spot, self-interest should compel them to engage in the community. There are real opportunities for mutually beneficial engagement, and examining the places where universities’ business interests intersect with community interests is a powerful starting point. Universities are not ivory towers, and nor should they strive to be.

At the simplest level, universities can impact their communities (and, in an increasingly integrated world, the global community) by providing technical assistance and promoting small-scale local initiatives that empower community members. For example, universities are perfectly positioned to provide targeted research, good employment opportunities, resources for public school teachers and enrollment of local students, consumption of supplies from local producers, commitments to fair business competition, constructive real estate, and contributions to local tax revenues. These initiatives enrich both the university and the community, reflecting common interests born of shared space and increasingly shared constituencies.

Universities also have the unique opportunity to directly combine community development and education through service learning programs. Service learning programs double as innovative approaches to education and the creation of participatory and justice-oriented citizens, and as close-to-the-ground community development initiatives. They provide an ideal platform for dialogue and exchange between the university and the surrounding community.

Intense interaction with community members allows students to learn in more than just the academic dimension. In identifying closely with a radically different perspective, students reject their old frames of reference and are freed to critically evaluate their old points of view (if you’ve studied abroad, you know what I’m talking about). Service learning is also a powerful means for imparting the practical skills of research and public scholarship, providing a hands-on opportunity for students to apply academic learning. Many university programs that engage with communities have met with great success, both in fighting social injustice and in enriching students’ education. Service learning combines the university’s mission to educate with a mission to serve, which, after all, is exactly what public education–and notably, a land-grant institution like Cornell–is meant to do.

By engaging with the community, universities take a stance not on what constitutes social justice or injustice, but on what constitutes good education and good citizenship. As independent educational institutions, universities can choose to transform society in the future and their own communities in the present by critically assessing their approach to education and civic engagement.