NENC News, Host John Dankosky

In a region known for elite private colleges, tensions between town and gown are bound to arise, especially when the economic gap between university and the surrounding community is wide. Historically, the rela-tionship between Yale and the residents of New haven has been an extreme example of this divide, but in recent years, that icy town-gown relationship began to thaw. NEXT producer Andrea Muraskin saw the warming trend in action at Collboratory: New Haven, an event series that brings peole from Yale and surrounding community together to brainstorm solutions to common prob-lems.  About 90 miles north sits Amherst, Massachusetts. It's a town of un-der  40,000 people that's home to three colleges. Guest Tony Maroulis, ED of External Relations and University Events at UMass Amherst, talks about the town-gown collaborative. To hear the interviews, click here. 

LamorindaWeekly, by Sophie Braccini

Saint Mary's College has scored big with the Town of Moraga recently as it had its master plan approved, after five years of work, as well as banners that wel-come students downtown. Town-gown relationships are blossoming as commencement week gets near. "Wed-nesday night was really a remarkable moment in the history of the Moraga-Saint Mary's town-gown relation-ship," said Tim Farley, the college community and government  relations director, at a public meeting following the town council meeting. Saint Mary's does not plan to increase in any major way its number of students, as confirmed by college president Jim Donahue. The neighboring city of Lafayette was consulted during the process. Its concerns revolved around traffic generation during construction. With the number of students staying mostly the same, the traffic study did not show any additional impact.  

TurboTenant, by Krystallin Baker

With another school year drawing close, many high-school seniors are preparing for their upcoming debut into college life. Soon students will be pouring out across the nation to thousands of colleges and univer-sities. From small private colleges to major state uni-versities, the new collegiate year promises to bring renters to many otherwise unknown cities and towns. Some colleges, though, are taking the bulk of the new and returning under-graduate population. This week, we compiled a list of the top five picks out of the 100 largest colleges in the US. To make our list, each town had to offer affordable housing options, easy accessibility to downtown, and an array of amenities. The towns that made our top five list are: Columbus, Ohio; Tempe, Arizona; State College, Pennsylvania; Champaign, Illinois; and  number one is East Lansing, Michigan. Click here to learn more . 

Daily Nexus, by Zoe Jones and William Emmons

Perhaps the old adage, "Beauty comes from tragedy," does not do much to comfort those who have faced the tragedy head-on. However, once the beauty is fully recognized and allowed to come full circle, it can serve as a point of recognition and a point of memorial. New works are constantly appearing. For example, the university has an Urban Art Workshop in which students paint murals in collaboration with property owners in Isla Vista. In the aftermath of the May 23 tragedy, Isla Vistans were tasked with recuperating and restoring the neighborhood. The event evoked a sense of togetherness, moving the community in a direction that readily embraced unity and collaboration. In the last three years, community members have come together to display beauty in the streets of Isla Vista. This is the role of art: to help us express, to help us remember and to help us cope. 

The Daily Sentinel, by Diane Schwenke & Tim Foster

When Colorado Mesa University grows, we all grow. That's why two weeks ago more than 200 leaders from our business community came together to discuss the importance of CMU as a key contributor to our local economy. We raised the question at our brainstorming session: What can our community do to help facilitate the continued momentum and growth of CMU? Grand Junction's business community is eager to take the lead with an initiative we call CMU 20,000. Focusing on areas including community engagement, community visibility, government engagement and student recruitment, the Chamber and CMU will work together to identify projects designed to embrace our role as western Colorado's university town. Our ultimate goal is to engage 5,000 members of our community to help push CMU's enrollment up to 15,000 students. 15,000 plus 5,00 gets CMU to 20,000.   

A growing and impressive group of professionals from campus communities across the globe continue to network and share strategies for improving town and gown relations. Join us on Twitter and LinkedIn.  

The ITGA strengthens town and gown partnerships by providing a network of professionals and resources, identifying and sharing leading practices, innovative solutions and professional development opportunities for municipal and university communities.