LEWISTON – Bates College will hold a three-day celebration this week to introduce a community-based education center and welcome its new director.

The celebration Wednesday through Friday will feature academic and cultural events, all of which are open free of charge to the Bates and Lewiston-Auburn communities.

The Donald W. and Ann M. Harward Center for Community Partnerships was created to ensure that the valuable relationships forged between Bates College and the Lewiston-Auburn community during the tenure of President Emeritus Donald W. Harward and his wife, Ann M. Harward, endure and grow.

The three-day series will kick off with a two-hour Welcome Gathering reception at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Harward Center, 161-163 Wood St. It will feature an exhibit showing the past and present of Bates’ involvement in the community.

At 7:30 p.m., in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave., Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor will deliver the keynote address, titled “Going Down the Hill: The Educational Value of Community Engagement.” Cantor’s talk will be followed by a reception.

The series continues at 4:15 p.m. Thursday in the Keck Classroom (G52), Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road, with a panel discussion featuring Bates alumni who will look at “The Value of Community Engagement as Part of a Bates Education.”

Later Thursday, at 7:30 p.m., the Harward Center will present a performance, “The 51st (Dream) State,” by poet and composer Sekou Sundiata, New School University, in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St. A reception with the artist will follow the presentation.

The celebration will conclude at 6 p.m. Friday with a community party co-hosted by the Lewiston Public Library’s Marsden Hartley Center. The party will be held at the Hartley Center in the library, 200 Lisbon St.

The Harward Center links the college’s academic mission with its commitment to service and partnerships, including its support of service-learning by integrating community service into academic course work.

David M. Scobey is the first director of the center. He came to Bates from the University of Michigan, where he was an associate professor of architecture in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and director of the Arts of Citizenship program.

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