City leaders should seek more ‘town and gown’ pairings

I believe Brownsville’s future hinges on a dynamic collaboration between the city and UTB-TSC that would provide innovative low- or no-cost solutions to our community’s pressing issues. In one of the poorest cities in the nation, the need for this “town and gown” partnership is urgent.

Indeed, just this past week Mayor Pat Ahumada, citing budget concerns, signaled the need for a partnership “with the University of Texas at Brownsville-Texas Southmost College to develop the (comprehensive master) plan in exchange for $100,000 in scholarships from the city.”

A town-gown partnership is the ultimate civic engagement project because it strategically aligns city departments and the enormous human and social capital of a university’s faculty, staff, and students to work together to solve our city’s problems. The benefit to the community is low—or no—cost services, the benefit to faculty is scholarship and service for their portfolios, and the benefit to students is experience in solving real-world problems.

The UTB-TSC Center for Civic Engagement (www.civicengagement.com) has been creating innovative community collaborations for the past four years. In 2003, for example, the Center initiated Kids Voting USA-Brownsville (KVB) whose purpose is simple: to give students the opportunity to become informed and responsible adult voters by practicing democracy and citizenship while they are still in school. Since its inception, more than 115,000 students have voted in national, state and local elections, and 25 KVB clubs have been created at various schools around the city.

Brownsville2020 (www.brownsville2020.com) is another example of the Center’s ability to form an innovative partnership, this time with The Brownsville Herald.

2020’s mission is reflected in three words: KNOW. ENGAGE. TRANSFORM. The project seeks to promote awareness of local issues, engage leaders and citizens in strategic actions that address the community’s “matters of concern.” This past spring, Brownsville2020 hosted a series of community forums and television interviews leading up to the City Commission elections, using the concerns as a framework for interviews, questions, and discussions among the candidates and the residents. The concerns will now become the framework for ongoing “2020 Report Cards” telling voters how well (or poorly) our city leaders are addressing their concerns.

And finally, the Center leads the “Scholarship of Community Engagement” (SOCE) by helping faculty who offer courses with service (experiential) learning. Each semester, an average of 50 faculty and 1,500 UTB students from across campus quietly engage in myriad service learning projects worth an estimated $150,000 of in-kind services to children, families, and agencies across our city.

To build capacity in the SOCE, the Center has awarded over $70,000 to students and faculty from across campus wishing to do community service, and over $250,000 in federal sub-awards to local community and faith agencies for technical assistance and capacity building.

Our leaders have a moral duty to partner in ways that create just and practical solutions to the many issues facing our city. The Center for Civic Engagement is ready to help facilitate these partnerships that will improve the quality of life for everyone.

Joseph A Zavaletta Jr. is the director of the UTB-TSC Center for Civic Engagement, an associate professor, member of the Texas bar, and appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the OneStar Foundation’s National Service Commission Board of Directors.