ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an account of an eighteen-year process through which an academic philosopher endeavored to collaboratively lead his university community toward a shared conception of mission and purpose as a metropolitan university. This work involved helping to create a widely shared acceptance and appreciation of the practical values of community engagement and multicultural inclusion among campus stakeholders, and the value of working to develop strong and productive partnerships with community partners in the metropolitan region. Philosophy is relevant to this process because of its commitment to probing assumptions, being open to varying points of view, and attempting to arrive at shared understandings of practical moral and political values. At the same time, philosophy by itself is insufficient to ensuring success in community leadership and inclusive change-making; other skills at collaboration and the building of partnerships are essential for success. The chapter provides some details of the evolution toward success in these goals at the university.
