Registration open: 2026 Annual PHENND Conference: Democracy at the Crossroads: Higher Education’s Call to Action – Feb 27

Posted by PHENND on November 18, 2025

Registration is now open

The PHENND Conference is an annual gathering for practitioners of campus-community partnership. This gathering will be attended by 100-125 students, campus staff, faculty, and community organization staff active in community service, service-learning, and campus-community partnership work. While primarily targeting individuals who are part of the 25+ colleges and universities involved in the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development (PHENND), this event is also open nationally to practitioners of campus-community partnership.

Theme

This year’s theme is Democracy at the Crossroads: Higher Education’s Call to Action.

Keynote Speech

Dr. Byron P. White will provide the keynote, “Higher Education’s Community-Centric Call to Action.” Higher education is facing a defining moment. Declining public trust, rising economic skepticism, disruptive learning pathways, and changing student expectations are forcing institutions to confront a difficult question: Is the traditional student-centric model still enough to justify the value of college?

In this provocative and forward-looking keynote, Dr. White challenges colleges and universities to rethink their fundamental purpose, arguing that the future of higher education depends on becoming fully community-centric. Drawing from his forthcoming book, The Community-Centric Path to Rebuilding Trust in Higher Education, White contends that institutions must move beyond viewing students as customers and instead position learning as a byproduct of solving real-world challenges alongside community partners.

Both urgent and hopeful, this keynote invites higher education leaders to embrace a bold “Big Yes”: a renewed democratic purpose that places community impact at the center of the academic enterprise. Institutions willing to take this leap, White argues, will not only restore public confidence, they will position themselves to thrive in the decades ahead.

Register here.

Workshops

There will be 12 concurrent workshops offered throughout the day. They are:

• RU Engaged? Voter Engagement & Empowerment Best Practices (Rutgers-Camden)
• Migrants, Money and Trust: Teaching Financial Inclusion through a Community-Based Experiential Learning Model (Rosemont)
• Higher Ed’s Civic Mission(s) (The Renovator)
• Building Capacity for Healing, Dialogue, and Repair (Love & Justice)
• Resigning from Blame: Sharing Struggle and Celebration as Democratic Practice in K-12-Higher Education Collaboration (Bryn Mawr)
• Haciendo Camino Juntos: School-based Advisory Teams as Vehicles for Community-driven Democratic Praxis (Swarthmore)
• University-Assisted Community Schools and K–16+ Scholarship: Reciprocal Support through Democratic Practice (Penn)
• From Campus to Ballot Box: Using Nonpartisan Strategies to Engage Student at Your School (Penn State)
• Restorative Justice Circles: Invitation to Build Community and Repair Harm (Temple)
• Beyond the Textbook: Reimagining How We Teach Economics Today (CCP)
• Developing an on-ramp to reciprocal grassroots partnerships: A Community First approach (Rutgers-Camden)
• Participatory action research approaches to developing get-out-the-vote messaging and activities (Penn)

Register here.

Plenary Panel

The conference will kick-off with an opening plenary panel, “Renewing Higher Education’s Purpose: Community Engagement as a Public Compact for the Common Good.”

As public trust in higher education declines and the ideals of democracy are being challenged, colleges and universities face a critical moment: to demonstrate — not just declare — their value to society. Community engagement, when done well, is one of the most visible and measurable ways higher education can show its relevance, impact, and commitment to the common good. It is also a powerful narrative tool: when communities experience higher education institutions as collaborators and problem-solvers, the public story about higher education begins to shift.

This plenary brings together three senior leaders in community engagement to explore how institutions are preparing civic-minded graduates, expanding access and opportunity to higher education, and building a new social compact with communities they serve and partnering deeply with them. We will explore how campuses can align institutional power, academic expertise, and student leadership to:

• respond to increasing student complexity (e.g., mental health, food and housing insecurity, inequity);
• address widening social, economic, and political divides by co-creating solutions with communities rather than for them;
• leverage institutional resources, faculty expertise, and student energy to strengthen regional well-being;
• provide tangible evidence to the public — through partnerships, programs, and shared outcomes — that higher education remains a vital public good;
• elevate student leadership and community voice as drivers of campus transformation and community vitality.

Together, the speakers will share examples of community engagement initiatives that have concretely improved local conditions, shaped policy, expanded opportunity, and strengthened democratic participation — all of which help rebuild public confidence in higher education. This work is not easy, and oftentimes messy, but when done well shifts from isolated projects to sustained, place-based strategies that demonstrate long-term commitment and public impact.

Speakers

• Valerie I. Harrison, Vice President for Community Impact and Civic Engagement, Temple University
• Nyeema C. Watson, Senior Vice Chancellor – Strategy, Diversity and Community Engagement, Rutgers University—Camden
• Moderator: Bobbie Laur, President, Campus Compact

Register here.