Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and its nonprofit support group, the Friends of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, have been named Ohio University Chillicothe’s Outstanding Community Partner for 2026, the Scioto Valley Guardian reported, recognized for an internship program that places a paid OHIO Chillicothe student at the park every summer.
The park and the Friends group received the award Nov. 5 at Ohio University’s Community Engagement Awards in Athens, held to open the Engage OHIO 2026 symposium, according to the university information cited by the Scioto Valley Guardian. Each of the university’s regional campuses selects one Outstanding Community Partner a year.
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, the university said. The position is funded through a National Park Service cooperative agreement and a gift fund at the Ohio University Foundation.
The park’s earthworks are part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Ohio’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, and university officials said the partnership connects OHIO Chillicothe students and the broader community with one of North America’s most significant Indigenous cultural landscapes, the Scioto Valley Guardian reported.
The Friends group also brings public programming to the OHIO Chillicothe campus, including author talks that have drawn more than 70 attendees, according to the university.
For Ross County, the award lands close to home: the park’s Mound City Group unit sits just north of Chillicothe, and its earthworks draw visitors, researchers and school groups into the city year-round. A paid internship that puts a local student inside that operation each summer ties the World Heritage designation to a local paycheck and a local résumé, rather than leaving it as a plaque visitors read on their way through.
Nominator Michael Lafreniere described the collaboration as reciprocal, the university said — 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. The next internship cycle will place another OHIO Chillicothe student at the park next summer.