Butler University has earned the prestigious Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, reaffirming the University’s longstanding commitment to meaningful, reciprocal partnerships that enrich learning, strengthen communities, and advance the public good.
The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification is an elective designation earned by a select group of colleges and universities nationwide that demonstrate deep, institution-wide collaboration with their communities through teaching, research, and service. Butler was previously awarded the designation in 2015 and has been reclassified following a comprehensive review of its engagement practices, partnerships, and impact.
“This recognition affirms something fundamental about Butler,” Butler University President James Danko said. “Our mission calls us to educate students in ways that are connected to the world around them. Community engagement is not separate from our academic work—it is essential to how we prepare students to lead meaningful lives and contribute to the common good.”
The Carnegie reclassification reflects the priorities outlined in Boldly Butler, the University’s strategic direction, which places strong emphasis on community-engaged learning, place-based partnerships, and preparing students to apply knowledge in real-world contexts.
Across Butler’s academic and co-curricular programs, students, faculty, staff, and community partners collaborate as co-educators and co-creators—ensuring engagement efforts are grounded in mutual benefit, shared purpose, and lasting impact. These partnerships support student learning outcomes while addressing community-identified needs in Indianapolis and beyond.
A signature example is the Indianapolis Community Requirement (ICR), a core component of Butler’s undergraduate curriculum that ensures every student participates in a meaningful, academically grounded community engagement experience. Through the ICR and related initiatives, students integrate classroom learning with hands-on engagement, developing civic awareness, professional skills, and a deeper understanding of community.
As an anchor institution in Midtown Indianapolis, Butler works closely with neighborhood associations, schools, nonprofit organizations, healthcare providers, and civic partners to advance education, health, economic opportunity, the arts, and community well-being.
Examples highlighted in Butler’s reclassification include longstanding and evolving partnerships with organizations such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, Shortridge High School, Shalom Health Care Center, and A Caring Place. These collaborations span disciplines and academic levels, offering students opportunities to engage in community-based research, service learning, creative practice, and applied problem-solving.
“Butler University has been a committed and thoughtful partner to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and to the broader Midtown Indianapolis community,” Seana Murphy, executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, said. “Their engagement is rooted in listening, collaboration, and a genuine desire to strengthen our neighborhoods. Through sustained partnerships that bring students, faculty, and community members together, Butler is helping advance educational opportunity, community well-being, and shared progress across Midtown.”
Butler’s community engagement efforts also align with broader institutional initiatives, including campus and neighborhood investments that strengthen connection, accessibility, and shared prosperity, as well as the launch of Founder’s College, a new two-year college designed to expand access and create new educational pathways for historically underserved students.
“For Butler, this designation reflects both continuity and growth,” Danko said. “It honors work that has been underway for many years, while also affirming the direction we are charting through Boldly Butler—a future where learning, partnership, and community impact are deeply interconnected.”