Fragile partnerships: Urban universities, neighbors and neighborhoods.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Little is known specifically about how urban universities shape their surrounding communities over time and what the differing reactions are to this institutional behavior. This study explores the politics and sociology that surround the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania's decisions to intervene in their local neighborhoods at different points in hire. The urban renewal period of American History beginning in the 1950s sparked many institutions to expand and even enclose their campuses. With financial and legal support from city, state, and federal governments, many urban institutions of higher education expanded their campuses, causing a great deal of local displacement of residents.
During this early period of urban renewal, two major urban universities were poised for change. Despite some national prestige, both institutions were victims of the plight of their local neighborhoods. In order to gain both national and international recognition, these two schools were forced to make very local decisions. This dissertation tells the story of how the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania faced similar circumstances in the post World War II era, and how their unique responses had differing effects that are still fell today.
A review of current literature provides a general background on community university relations. On-site observation and interviews are combined with some background demographic data to promote a valid and reliable study. Qualitative documents including newspaper and magazine articles, websites, and books play an important role in exploring the particular histories and current events of the universities in this study.
The findings of this study suggest that the history of community relations, in addition to the organization and leadership ill both community and university are profoundly important when trying to alter lingering perceptions of institutional behavior, create new programs, and change the nature of relationships. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature on the civic responsibility of colleges and universities. College presidents, administrators, faculty, students and community development corporations can use the findings to gain all understanding of how partnerships work while exploring the nature of relationships at their own schools.