This paper considers how colleges and universities can best fulfill the commitment of service to external communities, broadly defined to include local, national, and international concerns. Data come from interviews with key institutional representatives. The first section of the paper offers specific examples of how various colleges and universities link their activities to external communities through: (1) responsive curricula (ethics courses, "break" programs, first-year programs, capstone courses); (2) cooperative extension and continuing education programs; (3) clinical programs and field-based learning opportunities for students in professional programs; (4) administrative initiatives (service on local boards, speaking at public/private events); (5) centralized administrative-academic units with outreach missions; (6) academically based centers that support outreach activities (related to specific fields or problems); (7) encouraging individual faculty member professional service and outreach; (8) student initiatives; (9) institutional initiatives designed to have an economic or political impact (low interest mortgages to faculty members and staff, purchasing from minority-owned companies); and (10) providing public access to facilities and cultural events. The second part of the paper focuses on strategies to enhance civic life on campus, including: leadership; ideas that "fit" community needs; institutional support for such efforts; collaboration; and political "savvy." (Contains 30 references.) (SM)