The University and Its Community: Past and Present

Abstract

The history of university-community relations in this century has been characterized by periods of optimism and innovative action followed by disillusionment. During the years when cities were rapidly growing as a result of immigration and migration from the countryside, academics contributed to the search for solutions to urban problems and played a major role in the Progressive Movement. After World War I, research became increasingly esoteric, its focus shifting to national and international issues, until, with the sixties, efforts to find accommodations with a restive local community spawned a wide variety of new programs. The advent of technology appeared to satisfy needs for both research and jobs, but it also produced new frictions. In the present decade, new models for partnership and cooperation have evolved and community involvement has been linked more closely with the educational mission of the university. The hope is that a new spirit of optimism derived from the results of academically based public service will promote lasting progress. Ways must be found to institutionalize achieved goals that mutually benefit the urban university and its neighboring community.