Yale's commitment to spur economic development within New Haven and strengthen its partnership with its host city recently drew the attention of the incoming president of Case Western Reserve University, who invited President Richard Levin to speak at a colloquium titled "Great Universities and Their Cities," held Jan. 30 at the school in Cleveland, Ohio.
Levin was joined by Bruce Alexander, vice president and director of the Office of New Haven and State Affairs, who discussed Yale's many community initiatives at a presentation titled "Universities and Cities: The View from New Haven." Case Western's Inauguration Colloquium was held as part of the inauguration of its new president, Edward M. Hundert, Yale Class of 1978.
In his address, Levin outlined four areas that are the focus of his town-gown initiative: economic development, strengthening neighborhoods, increasing the vitality and safety of downtown, and changing the outside world's perception of the city's image.
"At the beginning, we recognized that most enduring contributions to the improvement of New Haven would require partnership with our neighbors, but these would take time to develop," said Levin. "To signal emphatically to both the University community and the city the seriousness of our commitment, we took three important unilateral steps during the first year of my tenure."
Levin said those steps included creation of Yale's Office of New Haven and State Affairs, to provide support for implementing town-gown programs; the President's Public Service Fellowships, to involve students in volunteer efforts with the city's agencies and non-profit service organizations; and the Yale Homebuyer Program, which provides a $25,000 subsidy over a 10-year period to Yale employees who purchase a home in New Haven. More than 530 employees have taken part in the program, which has invested over $12 million to date.
Levin and Alexander also described Yale and New Haven's efforts to promote economic development, which resulted in $1.5 billion of capital investments for the city's biotech cluster.
According to organizers, the colloquium was designed to show participants that the most effective universities of the next generation will be those that can serve as catalysts for vitality in their regions and to demonstrate the benefits that these relationships can bring to all concerned. Case Western Reserve and Cleveland are embarking on a partnership much like the one between Yale and New Haven.
The event attracted over 700 people who heard a frank dialogue between some of the country's leading mayors and university presidents about what has succeeded and failed in their relationships and which best practices can be replicated as part of a national model. Co-hosted by Hundert and Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell, the colloquium also featured talks by the mayors of Rochester, New York; Nashville, Tennessee; and Richmond, Virginia. In addition to Levin, the presidents of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Johns Hopkins University also spoke.
Other town-gown initiatives examined at the conference included the public/private partnership between the city of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University to create a scientific research facility that not only employs 850 people, but provides young companies access to the university's world-class equipment and capabilities; and the project between the city of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University's dental school, which provided every student in the city school system with an innovative dental sealant designed to produce long-term oral health benefits.
A full text of the President's speech can be found online at www.yale.edu/opa/president/case_western_20030130.html
-- By Thomas R. Violante
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