20 years of connection

A magnetic map of Richmond stretches across a large wall of the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Center for Civic Engagement in Tyler Haynes Commons. It reveals the river, roads, buildings, and topography of the region UR calls home and invites students to review strategically placed pins. The goal: Prompt them to consider opportunities to connect with the surrounding community.

This year, the CCE celebrates its 20th anniversary. If there were a pin for every community engagement experience from the past 20 years, the map would be covered — from Highland Park to Jackson Ward to Church Hill to Fulton to Southside. The CCE currently maintains 91 community relationships across Richmond.

“There are so many pathways to civic engagement,” said CCE executive director Sylvia Gale. “Our hope is that every student finds their own way to a meaningful connection with the Richmond region.”

Bonner Scholars intern up to 10 hours a week, tackling projects and establishing meaningful relationships with their supervisors that last beyond their four years of college. They also participate in on-campus reflective exercises and educational programming.

“The central work of the CCE over the past two decades has been to catalyze relationships, partnerships, and lifelong learning,” said Amy Howard, its first program manager and now associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement. “What started as an idea on paper has grown into a vibrant, nationally recognized center.”

Students carry the lessons they learn interacting with the community with them. 

“Place-based learning is central to becoming civically minded scholars, teachers, learners, and members of the Richmond community and any other communities in which we live,” Gale said. “Knitting those experiences together with multiple perspectives is at the very heart of civic engagement.”