CHILLICOTHE — Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and its nonprofit support group 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, as reported by the Scioto Valley Guardian.
The park and the Friends of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park received the award on November 5 at Ohio University’s Community Engagement Awards, held at the Ridges Auditorium in Athens to open the Engage OHIO 2026 symposium, according to the university. Each of the university’s regional campuses selects one Outstanding Community Partner a year.
The partnership at the heart of the award is the Bruce Lombardo Internship, which since 2022 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.
It is hands-on work at a place unlike any other in Ohio. 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 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 — programming that carries the park’s story well beyond its grounds in Ross County.
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.
What happens next is next summer’s internship: another OHIO Chillicothe student will spend the season working at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park under park staff and a faculty advisor, continuing a partnership now formally recognized as the Chillicothe campus’s best for 2026.
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