Educational institutions – whether public, private or in Adler University’s case, nonprofit – must embrace their role of helping to strengthen communities.

Adler University Board of Trustees Chair Joy MacPhail shared that sentiment in a June 10 letter published in the Vancouver Sun. The opinion piece was in response to another penned in May by Andrew Petter, president of Simon Fraser University. Petter called on Canada’s diverse network of public universities, colleges and institutes to support communities in remedying issues like social isolation and income inequality.

MacPhail agrees, but added private and nonprofit institutions to the list.

“By integrating community service into all we do, students experience social challenges directly, support healthier communities and advocate for society’s most vulnerable individuals,” she said.

Students at Adler’s Vancouver Campus worked in 2017 with more than 200 community partners. Those studying at the University’s three campuses completed a total of 580,000 hours of service during that time, impacting about 78,000 people.

“The benefits of collaboration with the community are immediate and long lasting,” MacPhail said. “When post-secondary institutions actively support communities, they graduate engaged citizens equipped with the tools and knowledge to advance a more just society.”

Read the full letter, “Graduating Engaged Citizens From Post-Secondary Institutions”, in the Vancouver Sun.