F&M Stories

Directed by Andrew Bilindabagabo.

Through Franklin & Marshall College's Center for Sustained Engagement with Lancaster (CSEwL), faculty and city administrators have explored and developed bridges for the shared community's progress.

Recently, F&M President Barbara Altmann praised the CSEwL as "one of the best things that I inherited when I arrived in 2018, and it's been just a joy to see it make its way in the community and for us to become a part of the community."

Altmann spoke at a June 15 gathering in downtown's Tellus 360, where faculty, students, staff, municipal officials, non-profit organizers and business leaders celebrated the collaborations they have made since 2019, when an Endeavor Foundation grant kicked things off.

That afternoon they began to map new efforts for sharing their collective knowledge, experience and insights for projects and partnerships that advance the community.

"Let's together continue to make Lancaster City authentic to its values, to its residents, and to serving as an example in Pennsylvania and far beyond," Altmann said.

Mayor Danene Sorace told the group, "The City of Lancaster is exceptionally fortunate to have the kind of sustained relationship with an educational institution of the caliber of Franklin & Marshall right here in our community."

Sorace welcomed the students who were there to help consider more collaborations.

"I think it's really tremendous that you are having an opportunity to engage in the community where you are spending four years of your life," the mayor said. "And some of you will stay and even come work for the city of Lancaster."

Learn more about recent collaborative work between F&M and Lancaster: 

• Douglas Smith ‘09, City Planner, is Building Lancaster's Future
• F&M Compost Co-Op Diverts Costs and CO2 in Lancaster
• Lancaster Vice History: Students Uncover Lancaster's Secret Side
• Research Highlights Immigrant Hardships During COVID
• African American Identity, Culture Through the Lens