In an era of eroding public trust and institutional strain, higher education must reclaim the power of story to build coherence, trust, and civic purpose. This interactive session draws from Co-Constructing Institutional Narratives in Challenging Times, a multi-campus residency convened by Project Pericles in collaboration with Partners for Campus-Community Engagement (PCCE) and the Community-Based Global Learning Collaborative. The residency brought faculty and civic engagement leaders together to examine how institutional narratives shape culture, belonging, and civic mission.
Participants will engage with several tools from the residency, including institutional “DNA” mapping, reflective writing prompts, and narrative-analysis exercises, that help surface competing storylines, identify tensions between aspiration and practice, and clarify the values an institution wants to communicate internally and externally so that actions, commitments, and public story reinforce one another in service of civic trust and renewal. The session offers concrete, adaptable practices for using narrative as a strategic lever to advance equity, strengthen connection, and renew civic purpose across campuses.