(Boston, Mass.) - Campus Compact is pleased to announce that five programs have been awarded Campus Compact's Excellence in Civic & Community Engagement Programming Award: Mapping Prejudice (University of Minnesota - Twin Cities), Scholarship in Action (College of the Holy Cross), Teaching East Asia through Picture Books (University of Colorado Boulder), St. Louis Fellows Program (Washington University in St. Louis), and sparc! the ArtMobile (Massachusetts College of Art and Design). The award recognizes the many forms that effective on-campus civic and community engagement can take to address areas of need and make deep and long-lasting positive change.
Whether it be through signature events, outreach or awareness campaigns, curricula or workshops, storytelling, or fellowship programs, the programs recognized for this award demonstrate a breadth and depth of impact in critical areas—such as civic learning, democratic engagement, leadership and faculty development, assessment, or dialogue, deliberation, and bridge-building.
“We are proud to recognize these programs as shining examples of the many forms that effective community engagement can take in order to address issues unique to a campus community,” said Bobbie Laur, Campus Compact president. “The programs honored with the Campus Compact Excellence in Civic & Community Engagement Programming Awards are leading the way in our field and showing how deep, long-lasting change is possible.”
The Excellence in Civic & Community Engagement Programming Award is presented as part of Campus Compact's Impact Awards, which recognize shining examples of meaningful, impactful civic and community engagement work. Read more about the other awards and this year's recipients here.
The recipients of these awards will be recognized at Compact26, Campus Compact’s annual conference, which will be held in Chicago, Illinois, from March 16-18, 2026.
Mapping Prejudice (University of Minnesota - Twin Cities)
Team members: Kirsten Delegard, Project Director, Mapping Prejudice, Rebecca Gillette, Associate Director-Community Engagement Lead, Mapping Prejudice, Michael Corey, Associate Director-Geospatial, Technical, and Data Lead, Mapping Prejudice, Penny Petersen, Property Records Specialist, Mapping Prejudice, Ryan Mattke, Co-Director, and Project Manager, Mapping Prejudice, Kelly Rogers, Communications Manager, Mapping Prejudice, Amelia Palacios, Communications Specialist, Mapping Prejudice, and Danya Leebaw, Director, Social Sciences Department
Mapping Prejudice began in 2016 with the question, how does structural racism get embedded in the built environment? How does it persist, despite years of legislative, policy, and cultural change? Based at the University of Minnesota Libraries, the project developed a methodology rooted in partnerships with county governments and community organizations. Community members mobilized to read and transcribe property deeds, enabling the digital mapping of racial restrictions, providing the data needed to drive change. It built new grassroots constituencies by broadening the political imaginations of participants.
This groundbreaking work inspired communities nationwide to investigate their own histories. Mapping Prejudice has since expanded to partner with groups in California, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, creating the world’s largest dataset of racial covenants. The project has reshaped scholarly research by engaging the public in uncovering urban history and structural racism. At the same time, it fosters a broader reckoning with these “unjust deeds,” encouraging systemic change. By making historical data accessible and participatory, Mapping Prejudice empowers communities to pursue data-driven, community-led efforts toward equity.
"Mapping Prejudice exemplifies the University’s deepest commitments to public scholarship, racial equity, and community engagement. Through innovative collaboration and sustained partnership, it has transformed public understanding of housing segregation in Minnesota and across the nation," said Laurie Van Egeren, Vice Provost for Public Engagement at the University of Minnesota, in a letter supporting the program’s nomination for the award. "The project stands as a national model for how rigorous scholarship and authentic partnership can together advance equity, repair, and understanding."
ABOUT CAMPUS COMPACT:
Campus Compact is a national coalition of colleges and universities that supports, engages, and challenges higher education to realize its public purpose. Campus Compact empowers colleges and universities to advance their academic and civic missions by partnering with communities to address complex social issues and further equity, justice, and prosperity for all. Founded in 1985, Campus Compact is the nation's largest and oldest national association solely dedicated to advancing the civic and community engagement mission of higher education. Our members make up a force of thousands of presidents, faculty, researchers, students, and civic and community engagement experts.
Campus Compact envisions colleges and universities as vital agents and architects of a diverse democracy, committed to educating students for responsible citizenship in ways that both deepen their education and improve the quality of community life. We challenge all of higher education to make civic and community engagement an institutional priority. Learn more at compact.org.