The Role of University Engagement in the Community

University–community engagement is increasingly emphasized at institutions throughout the United States, yet there remains concern and confusion about how to conceptualize community engagement to provide benefits for both the university and the public. This article summarizes the history of community engagement and describes dominant paradigms of engagement. Specifically, we explore how conceptualizations of university–community engagement have evolved since the inception of the public university and how different roles of the university confer different benefits to not only the actors within the institution but also the community served by that institution. We argue that community engagement is critical to the modern public university, and we describe a model of nonhierarchical, mutually beneficial public engagement.