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Contact Us Advisory Board Guide to Community Engagement

The Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement began in 2002 as NKU sought to expand its public engagement. “We want to advance public stewardship, citizenship and engagement though learning, scholarship and building the capacity of the community,” the Center’s first director, Laurie DiPadovca-Stocks, said.

In 2003, the Cincinnati-based Scripps Howard Foundation presented NKU with an endowment for the Scripps Howard Center. Throughout the years, the Center has continued to grow while keeping with the original mission of advancing civic and community engagement.

Some examples of the Center’s civics-based programming developed under Executive Director Mark Niekirk include the Democracy Square board, which encourages students to share their views on public affairs, the Northern Kentucky Forum partnership with local libraries to host civic discussions of regional public affairs, and the Center’s work to register students to vote and keep them informed about local issues.

The Scripps Howard Center integrates community engagement into most of its work, including Literary Symposiums, Six@Six faculty and student lecture series, the Newport 505 project, and the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project. The Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project was an integral part of the formation of the Center, and lets students learn about needs in the community and invest in addressing those needs, fostering community growth and non-profit partnerships.

The Center is now under the leadership of Dr. Shauna Reilly, the Assistant Provost for Experiential Learning.