Prospective Students

At Drexel, civic engagement is our commitment to building a shared, equitable future with our fellow citizens. It’s also in our DNA: Anthony J. Drexel envisioned an institution where all students would learn the skills to be useful contributors to civic life and society. It is also embedded into many courses, student organizations, and activities. At Drexel, civic engagement is experiential education; learning by experiencing things and by doing things.

What makes civic engagement at Drexel different?

No matter where life takes you, at Drexel and beyond, you will be part of a community. At Drexel, we challenge you to become an effective, thoughtful member of our community, right away. We firmly believe you’ll be more successful, in any pursuit, if you understand how to work with people from different backgrounds and perspectives to create change, together.

We also infuse our founder’s commitment to innovation throughout our civic engagement efforts. Here are just a few examples of innovation

• Drexel’s Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships is a unique 2-acre 4-building mini-campus in West Philadelphia. Our faculty, staff, and students offer legal assistance, health services, digital skills training, STEAM education programs, and much more to neighbors. It is far beyond what you’ll find at most any other university.
• Evan Ehlers ’19 saw food insecurity in the community and founded Sharing Excess, now one of the largest food rescue organizations in the U.S. (with a robust student chapter at Drexel).
• Drexel Digital Navigators and student organization TechServ have refurbished and distributed 1000+ computers and helped thousands of families across Philadelphia obtain ow-cost internet access.

Look through our Civic Engagement Report to see many more examples, and follow @Drexel.In.The.Community on Instagram to see our latest civic engagement efforts, in action.

Experience Drexel and make a difference from Day One

We can’t wait to see you — on campus and in the community!