After seven years of service to Campus Compact, Andrew Seligsohn today announced he will be departing his role as president effective August 20, 2021. Seligsohn leaves Campus Compact to assume the role of president at Public Agenda, a nonpartisan research and public engagement organization dedicated to strengthening democracy and expanding opportunity for all.

Maggie Grove, Campus Compact vice president for strategy and operations, will lead the organization as interim president following Seligsohn’s departure as the Board of Directors begins the process of permanently filling the position.

Over his seven-year tenure, Seligsohn has been a driving force behind Campus Compact’s success. He led with a goal of full participation for all, building a framework that ensures that Campus Compact can effectively support members across the country. Under his leadership, Campus Compact shifted to a greater focus on political engagement, successfully leading voting and civic learning initiatives, including the Safe Elections Project, a poll worker recruitment campaign that led to more than 4,700 students assisting with the 2020 election.

“The entire Campus Compact community expresses our best wishes and our enormous gratitude for Andrew’s leadership and direction over the last seven years,” said Katherine Conway-Turner, president of Buffalo State College and chair of the Campus Compact Board of Directors. “His strategic, insightful, and inclusive approach to guiding Campus Compact has steered our work to meet the mission of the Compact. His keen understanding and compassion for deepening higher education’s mission to connect students with the power and promise of civic engagement and social responsibility have encouraged the entire network to expand and deepen our work. His coalition-building and collaborative leadership have been a model that connected the Campus Compact to like-minded organizations and universities across the country and beyond. We deeply appreciate the directions he has forged and the pathways that are now a road for future growth, expansion, and collaboration that will serve our campuses and the students we serve.”

As president, Seligsohn has led the growth and development of many of Campus Compact’s signature programs. Some highlights of this work include:

• The Community Engagement Professional Credentialing Program, which was developed and launched to offer community engagement professionals formal recognition for the knowledge and skills they build in their careers.
• The inception of Civic Action Planning, which led campuses across the country to integrate civic and community engagement into their institutional plans.
• The transformation of the Newman Civic Fellowship Program into a year-long learning and network-building experience for emerging student civic leaders.
• A renewed focus on civic and community engagement at community colleges, including the establishment of Community Colleges for Democracy.
• The launch of the Engaged Scholars Initiative, supporting the integration of equity commitments into engagement.

“For the past seven years, I have worked with the extraordinary people who make up the Campus Compact network and its member colleges and universities,” said Seligsohn. “I am profoundly grateful for that opportunity and proud of all we have accomplished together. I look forward to continuing my work in pursuit of a stronger, more just, and more inclusive democracy at Public Agenda. I leave Campus Compact knowing that the organization is in good hands and that its mission has never been more important.”