Over the past two decades, a democratic, engaged civic university movement has developed across the United States. A central feature of this movement has been university-community partnerships in which higher education institutions work with organizations and schools in their local community. Much of this work has focused on the education and development of young people. Over time, significant change has occurred regarding both the quantity and quality of partnerships, and intriguing models have been developed. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain. The struggle to achieve transformative democratic practice in the face of seemingly intractable obstacles resides at the heart of this volume of New Directions for Youth Development. It requires, among other things, overcoming traditional ivory tower thinking and doing; developing creative, comprehensive approaches; and engaging in long-term, democratic, collaborative work. Five university-community partnerships from across the United States are featured in this volume. Each has been developed over a number of years and has focused on making a genuine difference in the condition of young people and their schools and communities. With case studies from OL {list-style:disc}P:{margin-left 60px} State University of New York, Buffalo Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis University of Pennsylvania University of Dayton Widener University Each case study demonstrates that university-school-community partnerships have the capacity to build communities, advance democracy, and enhance the quality of life and learning for all Americans, particularly its children. " New Directions for Youth Development (NDYD) plays a special, central role in building the youth development field. It not only keeps policymakers, practitioners and researchers informed about the 'new directions' relevant to their interests, it also serves as generative "cross-pollinator" bridging these different communities." Milbrey McLaughlin David Jacks Professor of Education and Public Policy, Stanford University This is the 122nd volume of New Directions for Youth Development , the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series dedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helping young people, including scholars, practitioners, and people from different disciplines and professions. The result is a unique resource presenting thoughtful, multi-faceted approaches to helping our youth develop into responsible, stable, well-rounded citizens.