Binghamton University celebrated being awarded the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement at a ceremony on Monday.

Designated by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement highlights institutions that show commitment to community engagement. Of those that applied, more than 230 universities received the designation this year, including SUNY Buffalo State University, the University of Rochester and Cornell University. The University received the designation after successfully applying in April 2025.

The ceremony was opened by Kelli Smith, assistant vice president for student success. Smith recognized the groups that helped make the award a reality, including the Community Engagement Council, the former Strategic Priority for Engagement and the Center for Civic Engagement.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for us to be celebrating Binghamton’s Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement,” said University President Anne D’Alleva during the ceremony. “I know for all of us, this is central to our sense of what the University can and should be as we move forward and it’s a vision that we embrace, of course, intellectually and academically, but also from our hearts as well.”

“This wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the great partners we have in this community, and many of them are here today and I want to thank them for being here for their constant engagement with the University and especially for the many opportunities that they create for our students and faculty and staff to engage in our surrounding communities,” D’Alleva continued.

According to the 2024-2025 Campus-Community Engagement Summary, which reported on student and staff involvement in community-engaged learning courses, co-curricular service and community-engaged research, 39 percent of faculty and 45 percent of staff reported volunteering or serving within the community last year, while students served the community for nearly 102,000 hours.

During her address, D’Alleva also welcomed Broome County Executive Jason Garnar ‘99, Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham and Rose Olson, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s representative for the Southern Tier. Also in attendance were the CEO of Leadership Alliance and members of the University Council and the Student Association.

Brian Rose, vice president for student affairs, highlighted the University’s history with community engagement and the work both faculty and students have done for the community.

“In 2010, we were able to establish the Center for Civic Engagement here at Binghamton and at the time that we launched the CCE, I didn’t want it to be defined by its division of origin — the Division of Student Affairs — and be limited to the important work, but not the only work, of engaging our students in volunteer activities across the community,” Rose said. “I wanted it to be a catalyst for Community Engagement writ large and to find ways to engage those of our faculty who had interest in existing work in community engagement activities.”

At a reception after the ceremony, attendees were encouraged to look at community engagement projects completed by students and the work they had done for the local community. Previous outreach activities include the SubIN program, where students work as substitute teachers in local schools to ease shortages and get teaching experience, and the Food Justice Working Group, an organization researching food insecurity.

The co-curricular community engagement report read that 463 students worked with 41 local nonprofits and six local school districts, serving over 15,000 hours. During the 2024-2025 school year, 76 student organizations hosted 380 service-oriented events.

“We are honored to receive the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement,” Alison Twang, the director of the Center for Civic Engagement, wrote in an email to Pipe Dream. “This recognition demonstrates the many ways that our students, faculty and staff work in partnership with our community for the benefit of all. We look forward to continuing to celebrate this commitment by expanding opportunities for meaningful collaboration with our community.”