Allegheny College Launches Community Impact Hub to Benefit Meadville and the Region with New $15 Million Grant

Funds will support the College's Strategic Pathway goals for academic excellence, experiential learning, and commitment to regional economic development.

MEADVILLE, Pa., Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allegheny College, one of the nation's most historic and innovative four-year colleges for multidisciplinary learning, announces the creation of the Community Impact Hub (the Hub) with a generous $15 million grant from a source that wishes to remain anonymous.  The grant is the latest announcement of the college's recent and significant investments in the local community. The grant provides immediately expendable funding to support first-year operations and a generous endowment of nearly $14 million to ensure the work of the Hub in perpetuity.

"The Hub is a significant initiative that builds on Allegheny College's long and rich tradition of community engagement in our region. The Hub is a vital component of academic programs, providing our students with experiences working with government and nonprofit organizations as they engage with faculty and community mentors to make Meadville a vibrant place to live and work," says Provost Jennifer Dearden.  "This announcement reinforces our commitment to Meadville and Crawford County and follows earlier announcements of the creation of the Meadville Community Revitalization Corporation and the opening of the Allegheny Lab for Innovation and Creativity @ Bessemer," Dearden explains.

The Hub facilitates a strategic and collaborative network of teams that include community partners, faculty, staff, and students. It is organized around five Impact Teams: Arts and Culture, Community and Economic Development, Education and Social Development, Environment and Sustainability, and Health and Well-Being. Working together under a "Collective Impact" model, the Hub supports regional capacity-building and community improvement efforts initiated by community partners and integrated into the College's curriculum and student engagement activities.

Approximately $100,000 will be granted to non-profit organizations annually through the Hub and the five Impact Teams. [Additional information for community partners can be found here.] With mentoring from experienced community practitioners and faculty, students are exposed during the summer and academic year to real-world complexities and challenges faced by municipalities and non-profit organizations, allowing them to apply their knowledge in practical settings, develop leadership skills, cultivate a more profound commitment to engaged citizenship, and explore potential post-graduation life paths.

The work of the Hub builds on a concept-testing grant the College received in 2019, which sought to build greater capacity for community organizations and nonprofits. "The Hub's pilot projects have already had a substantial impact, and we expect The Hub to have a multiplier effect with a tremendous impact on the community in perpetuity," explains Lauren Paulson, associate professor of psychology and grant primary investigator at Allegheny College.  "The needs of the non-profit community do not start and stop in the same cycle as the academic year. This funding will allow us to serve our community better through a sustained and scaffolded approach." Among the early projects that have now been incorporated into the Hub's goals and initiatives, here is a sampling that are already making an impact: 

• Research on the EMS System in Crawford County - Emergency Medical Service providers in Crawford County are overtaxed by a significant increase in the number of 911 calls from individuals who have no urgent medical need, but have fallen and require lift assistance. The Health & Wellbeing Impact Team vetted a project to prepare a feasibility study for the community partner to determine best practices for the Emergency Medical System of Crawford County based on research of other Pennsylvania programs. Community Partners: County Commissioner Eric Henry and Active Aging, Inc., Krista Geer
  
  
• Computer Science Literacy Program - This project, through the continuing work of the Education and Social Impact Development Team, aims to connect the ongoing efforts by Allegheny College's Department of Computer and Information Science to provide exposure to computational skills and computational thinking to Crawford Central School District's kindergarten through 6th grade students. Pilot elements included developing a website, creating activities and training materials, and working with the school district on logistics for the program and curricular ties to the school's curriculum. Community Partner: Crawford County Central School District
  
  
• The Arc Community Greenspace: Celebrating Mill Run – Building off of the last five summers of programming for the Arc's Greenspace, the Arts & Culture Impact Team vetted the 2024 summer project to develop a series of formal/structured community events. These events include live music concerts (typically in collaboration with Meadville Neighborhood Center), local theater, outdoor movies, and other family friendly events. Community Partner: The Arc of Crawford County, Inc.

This announcement comes as Allegheny College just launched its $250 million comprehensive campaign, In for Allegheny: Our Pathway Forward, the College's most significant campaign in its 209-year history, to support and achieve the goals of its Strategic Pathway.  This roadmap into the future will guide and ensure that the College and its graduates positively affect their communities, the workplace, and the world around them.  As of the launch of the Hub, $128 million has been raised towards this campaign.

About Allegheny College
Allegheny College, founded in 1815, is one of the nation's most historic and innovative four-year colleges. With the distinct requirement of completing a major and minor in different academic areas, students receive multidisciplinary learning that celebrates their unusual combinations of interests. This develops creative, independent thinkers with a path for educational depth and intellectual growth, preparing students for a successful launch after graduation and possibly for a future career that may not yet exist.  Located in northwestern Pennsylvania, 1.5 hours equidistant from Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo, Allegheny College is one of 40 colleges featured in Loren Pope's "Colleges That Change Lives" and recently ranked #4 by The Princeton Review in its Top 20 Best Private Schools for Making an Impact. In its 2025 rankings, U.S. News & World Report recognized Allegheny College as one of the country's top 100 national liberal arts colleges, with special distinctions including one of the top 10 best for senior capstone experience and one of the top 25 best for undergraduate teaching, and research and creative activities.

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SOURCE Allegheny College