Campus Compact, a national coalition of colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education, announces this year’s recipients of Campus Compact's Impact Awards as well as three new awards:
the Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Professional Award, the Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award, the Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement, the Richard Guarasci Award for Presidential Leadership, the Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Presidential Leadership, and new for 2025, Student Leadership Awards, Excellence in Civic & Community Engagement Programming Awards, and Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnerships Awards.
These awards recognize the outstanding work of individuals and institutions in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education.
“We are proud to celebrate the individuals and institutions that work hard every day to make our communities healthier, happier, and more resilient,” said Campus Compact President Bobbie Laur. “Each awardee’s unique approach—through scholarship, teaching, institutional action, and deep engagement with communities—illustrates how higher education can partner with communities and contribute to a just, equitable, and sustainable tomorrow.”
The recipients of these awards will be recognized at Compact25, Campus Compact’s annual conference, which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from March 31st - April 2nd, 2025.
Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Professional Award
The Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Professional Award celebrates the ethical leadership and advocacy demonstrated by Community Engagement Professionals. Recipients have demonstrated collaboration with communities focused on transformative change; a commitment to justice-oriented work; and an impact on the larger movement to build ethical and effective community engagement locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
This year’s recipient of the Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Award is Dr. Castel V. Sweet
Sweet is recognized for her work as a sociologist and community builder embedded at the intersections of community, culture, and race, emphasizing relationship building through place-based engagement practices. She has established programs such as: (1) the Community Engaged Fellows, an interdisciplinary community of practice designed to further institutionalize and support engaged teaching and research, (2) a Community Engaged Leadership Minor, which equips students with the skills needed to ethically and effectively partner with communities, and (3) a place-based immersion program that brings together students, faculty, staff, and community residents to visit historic sites of injustice to reflect on the enduring legacy of inequity and imagine new possibilities for the future. Read more about Dr. Sweet →
Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement and the Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award
The Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement and the Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award recognize early career and senior faculty, respectively, who practice exemplary engaged scholarship through teaching and research. The awards are presented in partnership with Brown University’s Swearer Center. Recipients are selected on the basis of their collaboration with communities, institutional impact, and high-quality academic work.
This year’s recipient of the Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement is Dr. Maranda C. Ward
Ward is recognized for her work in advancing anti-racism efforts within health professions education and in designing curricula to enable students and faculty to competently promote health and racial equity in practice. Her research focuses on diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and antiracism educational interventions as well as community-focused studies on HIV, Black women's health, and youth identity. Read more about Dr. Ward →
This year’s recipient of the Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award is Dr. Jodi Skipper
Skipper is recognized for her outstanding contributions to engaged scholarship at the University of Mississippi and her commitment to addressing historical and contemporary social injustices through community collaboration. Her work transcends the traditional boundaries of academic research, actively involving community partners in both the preservation and interpretation of African American heritage sites across the South. Read more about Dr. Skipper →
The following faculty have been named Ehrlich Award finalists: Julia Roncoroni, associate professor of counseling psychology at Universisty of Denver and Daniel Trudeau, professor of geography at Macalester College.
Richard Guarasci and Eduardo J. Padrón Awards for Presidential Leadership
The Richard Guarasci Award for Presidential Leadership and the Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Presidential Leadership recognize presidents or chancellors from four-year institutions and community colleges, respectively, who have exemplified a deep and sustained commitment to civic and community engagement throughout their careers. Their leadership drives institutional transformation through comprehensive campus-wide efforts aligned with Campus Compact’s vision of a world in which all of higher education commits to advancing an equitable, accessible, and just democracy, where colleges and universities serve as responsive and transformative agents of change and join as true partners with communities in contributing to our collective flourishing.
This year’s recipient of the Richard Guarasci Award for Presidential Leadership is Dr. Jennifer Cowley
Crowley is recognized for creating meaningful impact across her career, and most recently on the communities of North Texas through the University of Texas at Arlington’s strategic plan, UTA 2030: Shared Dreams, Bright Future. The implementation of this plan has led to initiatives that support the development of students as engaged citizens and grows the positive impact the university has on the surrounding communities. Read more about Dr. Cowley →
This year’s recipient of the Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Presidential Leadership is Dr. Lane A. Glenn
Glenn is recognized as Massachusetts’ longest-serving community college president, where his leadership and dedication to equity have made an indelible mark, not just on the communities NECC serves, but across Massachusetts and its educational institutions. Read more about Dr. Glenn →
Excellence in Civic & Community Engagement Programming Awards
Campus Compact’s new Excellence in Civic & Community Engagement Programming Award recognizes the many forms that effective on-campus civic and community engagement can take to address areas of need and make deep and long-lasting positive change.
This year's recipients are Johns Hopkins University SOURCE Service-Learning Academy (Johns Hopkins University), Visionary Student Panel (Mercer University), Dayton Civic Scholars (University of Dayton), and the Center for Community Engaged Learning, Community-Engaged Learning Index (Michigan State University).
Whether it be through signature events, outreach or awareness campaigns, curricula or workshops, storytelling, or fellowship programs, the programs that receive this award demonstrate a breadth and depth of impact in critical areas—such as civic learning, democratic engagement, leadership and faculty development, assessment, or dialogue, deliberation, and bridge-building. Read more about the winners →
Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnerships Awards
Campus Compact’s new Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnerships Award recognizes outstanding programs and initiatives that demonstrate meaningful partnership with communities to address complex social issues and further equity, justice, and prosperity for all.
This year's recipients are Youth Action Lab and Lugo-McGinness Academy (University of Virginia), Chester-Swarthmore Fellows Council (Swarthmore College), Liberal Arts Action Lab (Connecticut State Community College), Liberal Arts Action Lab (Trinity College), and the University of Iowa’s Initiative for Sustainable Communities.
Programs that receive the award exemplify the core principles of effective civic and community engagement—reciprocity, collaboration, transdisciplinarity, and sustainability—and address specific social issues, such as public health, violence prevention, economic development, K-12 education, climate change, or houselessness. Read more about the winners →
Student Leadership Awards
Campus Compact’s new Student Leadership Award recognizes undergraduate and graduate students who demonstrate inspiring leadership qualities through civic and community engagement.
This year's recipients are Alexandra Renteria (University of North Texas at Dallas), Nabile Galván (Indiana University), EmRhys Jenkins (Colorado College), Simon Wang (University of Pittsburgh), Florian Nguyen (Mesa Community College), and Elvis Veliu (Schoolcraft College).
Students who receive the award are leading change on their campuses and in their communities and inspiring their peers to do the same. Recipients may be serving in leadership roles on their campus, creating impactful programs in their communities, or collaborating with faculty on community-based research. Read more about the winners →
For eligibility criteria, past recipients, and other details about the Campus Compact Impact Awards, see www.compact.org/impact-awards.