Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and the Friends of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park have been named Ohio University Chillicothe’s Outstanding Community Partner for 2026, recognized for an internship program that places a paid OHIO Chillicothe student at the park every summer, Ohio University announced. The honor was presented Nov. 5 at the university’s Community Engagement Awards, held at the Ridges Auditorium in Athens to open the Engage OHIO 2026 symposium, according to Ohio University and the Scioto Valley Guardian.
Each of Ohio University’s regional campuses selects one Outstanding Community Partner a year. The Chillicothe honor recognizes a partnership that connects OHIO Chillicothe students and the community with one of North America’s most significant Indigenous cultural landscapes, the university said. The park’s earthworks are part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Ohio’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Since 2022, the Bruce Lombardo Internship has placed an OHIO Chillicothe student at the park each summer in a paid role, mentored by park staff and an Ohio University faculty advisor, according to Ohio University. The internship is funded through a National Park Service cooperative agreement and a gift fund at the Ohio University Foundation.
The Friends group also brings public programming to campus, including author talks that have drawn more than 70 people, the university said. Nominator Michael Lafreniere described the collaboration as reciprocal: students gain career-shaping experience, the park gains capacity to serve the public, and the community gains a stronger champion for a heritage site of international importance, according to Ohio University.
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Regional campus partners, faculty and staff took home seven of the evening’s 10 honors at the Nov. 5 awards, the university said. The university-wide Community Partner of the Year award went to the Southern Wayne Advocacy Council, which works alongside OHIO Southern in Lawrence County.
For Chillicothe, the award puts a spotlight on a partnership that has quietly sent a local student into hands-on work at a World Heritage Site every summer for five years — and it will send another one next summer, when the Bruce Lombardo Internship places its next OHIO Chillicothe student at the park.
Photo: Ɱ, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons