Collaborative Action, Democratic Engagement
Bonner Center for Civic Engagement
2025–26 Year in Review
At the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, we catalyze opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and community stakeholders to make an impact in the civic life of our communities together.
The 2025–26 Year in Review highlights civic engagement initiatives and programs in the four action arenas that have guided our collective work.
A Message from the Director
Empowering Civic Learning and Action Networks
Changemakers see the strengths and challenges in their communities and invite others to learn, imagine, problem-solve, and act together. At the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), we support individuals and their networks in connecting with one another and leading constructive collaboration.
Creating Accessible Pathways
Civic engagement cultivates intentional relationships and attends to power dynamics so that people with different experiences and perspectives can develop creative solutions together. In the CCE, we work to remove barriers and build structures that make civic engagement visible, welcoming, and impactful.
Practicing Democracy
Institutions of higher education are important spaces for practicing habits of participation and community-building and for reinforcing norms of mutual obligation and interconnection which are central to democracy. As a center for civic engagement, it is our responsibility to support and model transparent and inclusive decision-making, so that people can advocate for what is meaningful to them, know that their voices matter, and exercise shared responsibility.
Advancing Institutional Priorities
We recognize the role civic engagement plays in enabling our institution to carry out its mission to "[prepare] students for lives of purpose, thoughtful inquiry, and responsible leadership in a diverse world." Through civic engagement, the University and its members can live out this responsibility with purpose, collaboration, and leadership.