Muhlenberg College
EN-9: Community Partnerships

Muhlenberg College's relationships with non-profit organizations and schools could be considered mostly supportive or collaborative. Muhlenberg collaborates with more than 17 different organizations and institutions to share resources, engage in mutually beneficial learning experiences and enhance all of our communities. Many of these partnerships have extended over a twenty-year time-span, evolving each year to meet the respective changes within communities. Programs support social equity and well-being in addition to economic opportunity. Muhlenberg’s two full-time staff in the Office of Community Engagement oversee these relationships and engage folks both on campus and within local communities in creating mutually shared goals and plans.

Muhlenberg College has multiple supportive partnership including one with Community Bike Works in Allentown. We have worked with Bike Works since the organization's inception 20 years ago. The College collaborates with the organization in their flagship "Earn-a-Bike" 12 week program that teaches youth about bike mechanics and safety while encouraging work ethic. Upon completion of the program, kids earn their own bikes and helmets. Faculty have collaborated with the organization on research questions. Students have served as interns, developed collaborative programs with the kids and organization focused on health, reading/social justice and art, applied for grants to support our work, assisted with one-time events and led programming. Alumni have been hired as full-time staff members. Organizational representatives have served on search committees at the College and participated in other activities on campus. The partnership is mutually beneficial.

Muhlenberg has partnered with Jefferson Elementary School for almost 25 years. Our relationship with the school ranges from before the school year starts through the annual field day Muhlenberg hosts. When budget cuts threatened to decrease art, physical education, library and music from the school curriculum, Muhlenberg students attended school board meetings to express their discontent. When the cuts were enacted, students sought to provide alternative programs so kids might still have access to the arts. All Jefferson Elementary School students come to campus on Field Day while some come when they’re selected as students of the month. Third, fourth and fifth grade students all come to the College for various experiences focused on grade-level goals including science and career exploration. College staff collaborate with school administrators and teachers to create, enact and evaluate these events. Regular, weekly engagement includes Muhlenberg students at the school every day of the week during or after-school. Bi-directional engagement allows for both Jefferson and Muhlenberg community members to regularly visit and co-create goals and opportunities, enhancing all our communities.

For more than 15 years Muhlenberg College has partnered with a small community in Costa Rica called Las Juntas de Abangares. Each year for several weeks students and a couple faculty travel to Las Juntas to engage with local communities and participate in on-site research.” This is the Costa Rica course, which we also counted as one of our immersive experiences.

Rich Niesenbaum also contributed to the reporting of this credit.