Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Campus Compact announced the HUD + Higher Ed Engagement Network, a new collaboration to strengthen higher education community action. Augsburg President Paul C. Pribbenow was one of three college presidents named to a 30-member Think Tank of strategic leaders that will guide network activities.
“Augsburg has long been engaged in vital place-making work with our neighbors, our students, and our employees,” said Pribbenow, who chairs the Central Corridor Anchor Partnership in Minneapolis. “It’s an honor to be able to share what we’ve learned about mutually sustaining partnerships in an urban setting where we have deep institutional roots.”
The Think Tank will collaborate with HUD leaders to develop and disseminate strategies for campuses to engage with HUD field offices and initiatives nationwide. Member institutions will put these plans into action at the local level, with the goal of building inclusive, sustainable, and thriving communities through increased civic and community engagement. Focus areas will include worker empowerment, maternal and infant health, eviction prevention, landlord outreach, housing security and access, broadband access and digital literacy, and cultural competency.
“We are thrilled to partner with Campus Compact on this initiative,” said Michele Perez, HUD’s Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management, in announcing the program. “This partnership will bolster HUD’s and the members of the Higher Ed Engagement Network’s ability to serve our most vulnerable populations through the higher education space. Together, we will leverage our strong connections in our respective industries to enable a just, equitable, and sustainable future.”
The HUD + Higher Engagement Network will be led by Campus Compact in partnership with the University Economic Development Association and two organizations with which Augsburg and President Pribbenow have been closely involved: the Anchor Institutions Task Force and the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities.
Engaging as an anchor institution in Cedar-Riverside and at Augsburg sites around the world is a key strategy articulated in Augsburg150: The Sesquicentennial Plan.
Read more about Augsburg’s anchor institution commitments:
- “Choose to embrace the role of being an anchor institution in our community”—Star Tribune commentary by Paul Pribbenow and James Hereford (September 2021)
- “Augsburg Deeply Involved in Innovative Effort to Keep Twin Cities Vital” by Jay Walljasper (PDF)