When we are in a college town, we usually walk around the campus. Many campuses in the west are pretty; I like especially the University of New Mexico, which is an oasis in a dry place. But the only campus I have seen that is tightly connected to the town is the University of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. I learned that the land was donated by wealthy Mormons who insisted that the college serve the town. And it does. We went to events there regularly, and it was amazing how many townspeople were there, acting as if the college was theirs too. We went to a film one night, part of a regular college film class. Townspeople easily outnumbered the students, and there were students just there to see the film. There was a raffle of a film poster and the professor led a discussion that townspeople participated in. It was remarkable. Some profs there were part of a project in the state to decommision a dam (a great idea in many cases. Dams have ruined so many places for so little gain. Glen Canyon comes to mind. See The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey). They made a film about the history of the dam, what it had done to the environment, and its eventual decommissioning). More than 1,000 people came to see the film's opening on the campus.