"Higher education is a human right and among the most effective tools to ensure the social, economic and political inclusion of displaced peoples and refugees. Quality education for all is also a core United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), a set of 17 goals adopted by all UN member states aiming to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

In the world of higher education, community engagement projects (teaching, learning, scholarly activities) boil down to people coming together under a common goal to make change. At its best, all actors in the partnership learn and grow. But how do these partnerships start? What is their origin story? To answer this question, I’ll start with my initial community-engaged experiences and tell you about how Public Scholarship and Engagement (PSE) is working to facilitate more community engagement origin stories.

"There might soon be more native California poppies, lupines and sunflowers popping up along streets and sidewalks in the region.

"A new ARE program led by associate professor of teaching Kristin Kiesel and associate professor Steve Boucher aims to enhance and expand pathways to the professoriate for historically underrepresented populations.

"It’s no secret that higher education has a public-relations problem. (If you don’t believe me, just Google phrases like “Is college a scam?”) The breakdown of trust between town and gown has led to suspicion, caricature, and erosion of material support for our work.

"With a $2.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the

"California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed budget legislation that includes $45 million in one-time support for a statewide Animal Shelter Assistance Program. The program will be administered by the Koret Shelter Medicine Program, at the University of California, Davis, Center for Companion Animal Health. The increase will be used to fund grants and outreach for the state’s animal shelters over a period of five years.

"This month on Face to Face with Chancellor May, the chancellor turns the microphone around to interview a student who recently interviewed him.

Chancellor Gary S. May was the first guest on student Mahiri Moore Jr.’s new podcast last December, and now Moore is appearing on the latest edition of Face to Face.

Moore is a sophomore with his own nonprofit organization, Moore Truth More Change, focused on engaging Black and Latinx youths."