In a continuing effort to foster better "town and gown" relationships between Towson University and the surrounding community, the university is sponsoring its second annual Building Our Community Dinner on Thursday, April 16, 5-7 p.m., in the West Village Commons Ballroom, 8000 York Road.
"It's a platform for people to talk about what's happening in Towson," said Joyce Herold, coordinator of off-campus student services for the university. "The premise of it is to gather folks together when there's not a crisis. Town and gown are intertwined. I think that it helps in the building of community when we can sit down on a human level."
As of last week, 125 people had registered for the dinner, which will features remarks by Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce, and Kristen McGuire, executive director of the Baltimore Collegetown Network, a free transportation service for students at area colleges and universities.
The dinner is free but space is limited and RSVPs are encouraged.
"We want to make sure people know that Baltimore is a nice college town," said McGuire, a Towson resident, whose husband, Michael McGuire, is a computer science and information systems professor at Towson University. "I think I represent the voices of a lot of colleges here."
McGuire said she will talk about "why we live in a college town and why that's a good thing, to bring money and energy. Students want to get involved in the community and do service projects. They're part of our community.
"Colleges are good for universities," she continued. "They bring new residents. They're good employers. A college is tied here. They're invested. They want to see the region succeed."
For the chamber, it's a chance to give students and faculty members "a better understanding of what's happening in Towson," said Hafford. "The university is the biggest economic engine we have."
Hafford said she plans to update people at the dinner about various developments that have started or are planned, including Towson Row, a mixed-use project planned to include a 200,000-square-foot office tower, more than 100,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space — including the only Whole Foods Market in Baltimore County — more than 300 luxury high-rise apartments, a business-oriented hotel, a 1,500-space garage and a central plaza.
"I think sometimes people get a wrong impression about how the community feels about the students," Hafford said. "I think the business community is very grateful for the things the university brings to our communities. Once the students graduate, we want them to stay here. We want to find employment for them."
Herold promises a "friendly, lively and educational (dinner) to build a natural and organic relationship," said Towson University sponsors an annual luncheon, too, the most recent one last September, when Pat France, vice president of the Towson Area Citizens on Patrol group, gave a talk that Hafford described as "a call to action to get students involved" in TACOP.
The same could be said about the goal of the dinner.
"It's for raising people's awareness about community engagement," Herold said. "We'd like to continue (the dinner and luncheon series) for years to come. We certainly have enough leadership in our area to continue this."