the
CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Initiative
A $30 million investment in our campus-community partnership
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Within our 100-block neighborhood, 30 languages and 71 dialects are spoken.
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This area is home to 20,000 residents, including 2,000 children and youth under the age of 18. It is home to a growing number of recent Asian and African immigrants. More than 55 percent of the 18,500 residents identify as racial minorities. About 37 percent of households live at or below the federal poverty line.
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With the Seattle University Youth Initiative, the university has concentrated most of its community engagement efforts on the neighborhoods closest to campus. This positions us to partner with families and their children living in a 100-square block area just south of campus. Annually more than 1,500 Seattle U students participate in this effort.
BROADWAY
NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH: OUR BEST INVESTMENT
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THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
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The Youth Initiative connects Seattle U students, faculty and staff with schools and community partners to improve academic achievement for low-income neighborhood youth. Our students gain perspectives, skills and experiences that shape their futures as changemakers our world so urgently needs. Our “cradle to college” pipeline prepares local youth for college success and the promise of a better life. Understanding that academic achievement is just part of the equation, Seattle University partners with 70 community organizations to connect families to resources for stable housing, access to healthcare, safe neighborhoods, and living-wage jobs.
“ I just want to see these kids do well, develop a strong sense of self-worth and be better equipped to face the challenges that surely will be in their future.” Frank Shih, Ph.D., associate professor, mechanical engineering, College of Science and Engineering
A VISION FOR THE FUTURE In 2004 Seattle University established the Center for Community Engagement to involve students and faculty in addressing pressing community needs. That led in 2011 to Center’s launch of the Seattle University Youth Initiative with its mission to unite Seattle U and the Bailey Gatzert neighborhood in a collaboration that would strengthen both. Seattle University seeks a $30 million investment to :
• Build on Success—Expand programming to build out the Youth Initiative’s cradle-to-college pipeline of support into middle and high school.
• Plan for the Future—Establish a program endowment to sustain the Center
for Community Engagement so that it can continue to connect campus and community.
• Foster
Innovation—Support innovative campus-community partnerships that integrate health, economic opportunity, safe neighborhoods and affordable housing.
• Expand Neighborhood Scholarships—Make it possible for more low-income neighborhood youths to attend Seattle U.
At Seattle University, we believe that the life of our campus and the life of our community are inextricably linked. When the connection is strong, remarkable things happen — things that neither could achieve alone.
“ This effort is absent even a hint of artifice. The relationship between Seattle U and its neighbors works both ways. A community gets to tap into the considerable resources of the private university on the hill and Seattle U gets to sharpen the Jesuit philosophy of public service that helps distinguish it from other schools.” The Seattle Times
Seattle University has been recognized as one of the top 25 universities for service learning by U.S. News and World Report.
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3,000 students are engaged in more than 200 service-learning courses each year.
Seattle University received the Presidential Award for Community Service, the federal government’s highest honor for college or university civic engagement, service learning and volunteerism.
MAKE A GIFT. MAKE AN IMPACT. Now is the time to ensure that the Center for Community Engagement has the resources it needs to continue its vital work. Your investment will make a significant impact on the health of our community, on the futures of its young people and on Seattle U students as they shape purposeful lives. This is what a just and humane world looks like at Seattle University. We invite you to engage with us and engage with our community.
LEARN MORE www.seattleu.edu/suyi www.seattleu.edu/cce
TO DISCUSS YOUR GIFT TO THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVE, PLEASE CONTACT: CAMPAIGN OFFICE 901 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122-1090 206.296.6100