Center for Strong Communities

Dr. Billy Newton “Summer and Fall of 2009 is a time for considering greater involvement in issues that matter most to our communities. Our mission is civic engagement and community-building, which we do by bringing together local leaders, grassroots workers, nonprofit organizations, college students and the Maryville College campus to learn, serve and seek solutions.

In 2009-10, we are continuing with successful community programs and partnerships, including the MLK community forum, Leadership Summit, Earth Roundup, Nonprofit Training and Enrichment Seminars, and the Economic Summit for Women --- see current registration link on the sidebar.

This fall, watch for expanded campus and community efforts toward a school for nonprofits, with year round series of workshops and classes in nonprofit management and community leadership. In September-October, we join with the Hispanic Chamber of East Tennessee, other Latino organizations and student groups to host Hispanic heritage activities and continue our community forum on living with new neighbors.

A new semester also means further community-based research and a project called PolicyOptions that matches students and faculty with social needs and regional issues.” New research questions are currently being identified by community organizations, and our students and faculty continue with ongoing research on water quality, matching service dogs with autistic children, how students of color experience predominately white colleges, child welfare and advocacy, violence against women, refugee assistance programs, and access to adult ESL instruction.

I think the challenges for our communities, our students and the CSC in the coming year are to learn and serve as our own stimulus package. With or without the big dollars, we need to stimulate a public campaign for greater civic involvement, more voices and practitioners of environmental stewardship, and the kind of social capital and collaboration that empowers just and caring communities.”

Dr. Billy Newton,
Director of the Center for Strong Communities

Our mission is to empower communities to become the best possible places to live and work.

The Center for Strong Communities builds on the educational mission and long tradition of service at Maryville College and strives to be a visible expression of responsible citizenship and servant leadership in the broader community. Guided by the challenge to care for others and to work for justice, The Center for Strong Communities connects people and ideas to work for the common good.

In 2009, The Center for Strong Communities is building college and community partnerships through collaborative civic engagement, community-based research, leadership development and community forums, and the strengthening of nonprofits and service organizations in East Tennessee.


The Center for Strong Communities at Maryville College

Located in the Alexander House on the Maryville College campus
Dr. Billy Newton, Director
Mary Amber Brooks, Administrative Assistant
Voice: 865.273.8894
Fax: 865.981.8010