BSU, NTC join 350 institutions on Campus Compact Action Statement

March 21, 2016 — Dr. Richard A. Hanson, president of Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College, joined more than 80 higher education leaders in Boston on March 20 to celebrate the launch of the Campus Compact’s Campus Civic Action Plan.

Hanson joins more than 350 Campus Compact member presidents and chancellors who have signed the Campus Compact 30th Anniversary Action Statement, a document which the compact says “contains strong language about the public obligations of higher education that commits campuses to taking specific steps to deepen their engagement for the benefit of students, communities, and the broader public.”

As Campus Compact signatories, Bemidji State and Northwest Tech are committed to creating publicly shared Campus Civic Action Plans. Campus Compact will support BSU, NTC and other campuses as they develop these plans.

“For many years, I have been committed to service learning,” Hanson said. “We want to help students understand the power of service and commitment to community.”

Campus Compact is a national coalition of nearly 1,100 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. The coalition is guided by a national office and 34 state and regional Campus Compacts. Bemidji State University and Northwest Technical College are members of the 36-institution Campus Compact Minnesota. The only national higher education association dedicated solely to campus-based civic engagement, Campus Compact enables campuses to develop students’ citizenship skills and forge effective community partnerships. The compact’s resources support faculty and staff initiatives to provide community-based teaching and scholarship in the service of positive change.

“Colleges and universities exist to promote public goods,” said Campus Compact president Andrew Seligsohn. “By signing the Action Statement and committing to develop Campus Civic Action Plans, these 350 presidents and chancellors are challenging their institutions to go even further in preparing students for lives of engaged citizenship, contributing to the health of communities both local and global, and sustaining our democracy in the face of the twin challenges of inequality and polarization.”