Campus Compact is pleased to announce this year’s recipient of the Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Institutional Transformation. The award recognizes community colleges that have successfully implemented institution-wide efforts to address issues of public concern by aligning teaching, research, practice, and values in service of the common good. Recipients are institutions that have undertaken comprehensive efforts to advance the values articulated in Campus Compact’s 30th Anniversary Action Statement of Presidents and Chancellors.

The recipient of the Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Institutional Transformation is Wilbur Wright College, an independently accredited, open access community college in the City Colleges of Chicago system. Through a wide range of programs, including its partnership with the Vaughn Occupational High School for students with intellectual disabilities, its cooperative pipeline program with Northeastern Illinois University, and its free career assistance offerings, Wilbur Wright College is acknowledged for working diligently and creatively to promote the public good in the city. With a diverse student population that includes many students from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in the Chicago area, its leadership has established an expectation that being a member of Wilbur Wright College is being a member of the community it serves. In its Strategic Plan, the College has committed to embedding civic engagement and community outreach into all facets of campus planning and operations, including hiring, planning, and teaching practices.

The Eduardo J. Padrón Award for Institutional Transformation is presented as part of Campus Compact’s Impact Awards, which recognize the outstanding work of individuals and institutions in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education. Read more about the other awards and this year’s recipients at compact.org/2020-impact-award-recipients.

All award winners will be recognized at a virtual Awards Celebration in the spring of 2021.