Getting Down with Augsburg in Cedar-Riverside: Exploring Campus/Community Connections

Hosted by Augsburg University

Learn a bit about the history of our place and community-engaged learning at Augsburg. Walk the neighborhood with campus and community guides and talk with community partners about the ways that we work together to build learning opportunities, support our neighbors, and have a great time in one of the best, diverse and densely populated neighborhoods in the Midwest.

Participants will visit these community partners:

• Brian Coyle Community Center, Pillsbury United Communities
• Mixed Blood Theater
• The Cedar Cultural Center
• Afghan Cultural Society

• Concrete River: A History of I-94 in Cedar Riverside
• In the 1970s, Minneapolis faced a population death spiral. Guess who came to the rescue?

Re/Envisioning Land Back: University-Native American Community Collaborations in the Twin Cities

Hosted by Metro State University

In Minnesota we live and work on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Dakota Oyate (Nation) and the Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe). In addition to the 11 Federally Recognized Tribes (including seven Anishinaabeg reservations and four Dakota communities) Minnesota is also home to a very large number of urban Native Americans. Higher education institutions (including Metropolitan State) have in recent years adopted land acknowledgement statements. What does it mean to move beyond reading a statement recognizing historical trauma to actively collaborating with Native American people to address historical injustices and envision different futures through land back?

In this community engaged site visit, participants will visit Wakan Tipi, a unique ancestral site encompassing a sacred cave and burial mounds, and will learn about the work that is being led by a vibrant, living culture to preserve, educate, and welcome home displaced Dakota relatives. Through a panel exploring ways that Metro State, an anchor institution, has supported faculty, students, and community partners like Wakan Tipi, we will tell stories of collaboration to build a more just city. From sharing space, to providing support to faculty (for participatory action research, and community engaged courses) and to Native American students, we will explore and discuss efforts to honor the land and the Indigenous peoples and identify ways of moving beyond simple recognition of historical presence and injustice to consider how collaboration around land back can strengthen both university and community partners.

• Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi
• With new name in Dakota, St. Paul nonprofit pushes Indigenous renaming forward

Anchoring a Community College: Past, Present, and Future

Hosted by Saint Paul College

Saint Paul College, a cornerstone of the city for over a century, invites you to explore its deep commitment to the community. Through these experiences, you’ll gain a unique perspective on how Saint Paul College anchors itself in the past, present, and future.

• Honoring the past: Remembering Rondo
  Delve into the history of Rondo, a vibrant Black neighborhood displaced by highway construction. The Rondo Commemorative Plaza is the first-of-its-kind public memorial, serving as a powerful reminder of the community’s rich history and resilience.
• Nourishing the present: Our culinary program and food shelf partnership
  See firsthand how this innovative partnership provides valuable experience for students while offering delicious and nutritious meals to a local food shelf.
• Building a just and sustainable future: Skills for a greener tomorrow
  See how Saint Paul College is leading the charge by integrating sustainability into their trade & tech education. Learn how they’re preparing students with the skills and knowledge to build a greener future for all.

• Hope and healing come together through a powerful mural
• Culinary activism brings communities together
• Looking forward to a sustainable future

Mapping Prejudice and Resilience: Remembering the Silenced Voices of Resistance

Hosted by University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Throughout history, storytelling has been a powerful tool used by marginalized communities to reclaim their strength and ensure their voices are heard. It is a way to shed light on lived experiences that have been ignored or erased by mainstream narratives. During this site visit, two University of Minnesota, Twin Cities programs—the Center for Community-Engaged Learning (CCEL) and the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Mapping Prejudice Project—come together with the East Side Freedom Library (ESFL), to showcase the transformative power of storytelling in connecting the past to the present and inspiring both students and community members.

Participants will be introduced to the CCEL’s Sites of Remembrance, Resistance and Resilience StoryMap designed to provide context into the complex history of the Twin Cities. Guests will learn about the Mapping Prejudice Project’s work to document racial covenants found on real estate deeds until the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act and how these discriminatory practices help shape contemporary legacies. Finally, attendees will learn about the work of ESFL and their exhibit done in conjunction with the Mapping Prejudice Community Fellows program which has led to the creation of the ESFL’s Housing Justice Program.

• Mapping Prejudice
• Center for Community-Engaged Learning Reflection & Learning
• East Side Freedom Library