Examples of Good Practice from Syracuse University

Intergroup Dialogue

Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York, USA) is among nine American institutions of higher education participating in the “Multiversity Project” (based at the University of Michigan), which employs Intergroup Dialogue, an educational model that provides students with in-depth opportunities to develop and practice the skills needed to be engaged citizens and leaders of diverse groups in economic, social, and political institutions, both nationally and internationally. It accomplishes this using “dialogue circles,” which bring together students from two or more social identity groups in a small-group, cooperative-learning environment.

Program components are implemented through residence hall activities—Conversations About Race and Ethnicity (CARE)—but also through courses open to all SU undergraduates. Teachers and researchers from the nine participating institutions develop best practices in intergroup dialogue, including the development and implementation of a shared curriculum, which are shared through conferences and web sites.

Syracuse Say Yes to Education and Economic Development

This program—the only one of its kind in the United States on this scale—is a partnership among Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York, USA), the Syracuse City School District (SCSD), and the Say Yes to Education Foundation that will dramatically increase high school and college graduation rates for the students in the City of Syracuse public schools. Currently, only 50 percent of the students who start kindergarten in Syracuse graduate within 13 years and only 65 percent of the students that start 9th grade graduate from high school four years later—regrettably, not unlike the academic achievement profile of public schools in many American cities.

However, the Say Yes to Education Foundation has developed and refined a model support program in urban schools in Harlem (New York), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Hartford (Connecticut), and Cambridge (Massachusetts) demonstrating that the persistent and well-documented “achievement gap” between urban and suburban kids is not an accurate measure of students’ abilities or potential but in reality is an “opportunity” or “access” gap. We expect the Syracuse Say Yes program to increase the SCSD graduation rate to 80 percent within five years by providing comprehensive academic, socio-emotional, health, and financial support mirroring the advantages that suburban, middle-class students enjoy.

A key component is a commitment by the program to cover the costs to educate all participating students at any college or university within a broad network of public and private higher education institutions, eliminating the most significant financial obstacle faced by many low-income families to post-secondary access and success. The dramatically stronger schools, stronger linkages to an array of post-secondary institutions, and stronger workforce resulting from this program will create a powerful tool to undergird growth among existing companies in Syracuse, incubate new ones, and attract companies considering relocation. Thus, this program will provide not only a powerful model for urban school district reform, but a step-by-step roadmap for stimulating urban economic prosperity.

Near West Side Initiative and Connective Corridor

Syracuse University has joined local foundations, corporations, and neighborhood groups to form a non-profit organization that is overseeing the multimillion-dollar revitalization of a portion of one of the country’s poorest zip codes, located on the Near West Side of the City of Syracuse, New York (USA). Now dominated by dilapidated warehouses, but including single- and multi-family homes and apartments, this area is being rejuvenated as an Arts, Technology, and Design Quarter, incorporating “green” building principles throughout.

The new non-profit has begun to transform the neighborhood, leveraging funds from the partners, government, and foundation grants to renovate houses and warehouses, as well as to collaborate with the Syracuse City School District to reform neighborhood schools. This hub of creativity anchors one end of the Connective Corridor, a signature strip of cutting-edge cultural development connecting University Hill with downtown Syracuse. The Corridor connects key locations across the city, including historic landmarks, cultural institutions, and private development.

In addition to the Near West Side, these areas include the emerging arts districts along East Genesee Street; Fayette-Firefighters Park and Columbus Circle; Armory Square; and the Civic Strip, where the Civic Center complex and the Everson Museum tie into the center of downtown. Altogether, the Corridor is home to three major universities and more than 20 arts and cultural venues. It will showcase these assets, igniting a resurgence of economic development, tourism, and residential growth. It will feature new and imaginative lighting, public and interactive art, urban reforestation, technology hot spots, and vibrant social spaces.

This page is part of a series of Examples of Good Practice.