Centers & Institutes

Fairfield University earned the Carnegie Foundation’s Classification for Community Engagement in 2008 and was re-classified in 2015. As such, the University has adopted the below definition for community engagement, drafted by the Carnegie Foundation and commonly utilized throughout higher education. Community engagement describes the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger broader communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial creation and exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. The purpose of community engagement is to generate positive impact for communities and the campus by enriching research; enhancing teaching and learning; preparing educated and engaged citizens; strengthening democratic values and civic responsibility; addressing critical societal issues; and contributing to the public good (Carnegie Foundation, 2011).

Our engagement with local and global partners is grounded in the Ignatian commitment to a faith that does justice for the betterment of communities and the creation of a more just and equitable world. We work in solidarity with institutions and organizations across the globe in the pursuit of equity and social and economic justice.

Community engagement at Fairfield exemplifies our institutional values of inclusive excellence and radical hospitality, two pillars of our Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Mission Statement. To realize these ideals, we employ anti-oppression and anti-racist frameworks, pedagogies, and strategies throughout our work. We are committed to building partnerships that are ethical and sustainable. Our initiatives leverage the expertise and assets of both the University and community partners in pursuit of the common good.

Fairfield University develops in students a well-educated solidarity. This approach prepares them for informed democratic engagement and to lead their communities with empathy, critical rigor, cultural humility, and a determination to promote social justice. Our collaboration with local and global partners creates experiential learning opportunities for students built on a process of reflective practice and discernment which contributes to their holistic intellectual and personal development.

We believe that engagement with community partners expands possibilities for exchanging and creating knowledge that includes the perspectives of those traditionally excluded from the academy. In the context of these reciprocal partnerships, all are teaching and all are learning equally together.

Fairfield University offers intentional learning opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to develop a civic identity and a commitment to being persons for and with others. Through an institutional commitment to community-engaged learning, direct service, civic and democratic engagement, and cultural exchange, our programs seek to create a positive social impact and prepare our students to be socially just and ethical members of our campus community and of the local, national, and global communities to which they belong.

Programming and engagement opportunities include:

• Direct Service Programs
• Community-Engaged Learning and Research
• Philanthropy and Humanitarian Action
• Intercultural Learning and Immersion
• Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement
• Dialogue Across Difference
• Advocacy and Activism
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Arts and Cultural Engagement