The traditional nature of higher education, the permanence of its structure and function, has allowed many universities to act with a degree of invisibility, a reluctance to change with the times, though the evasion of public purview is more difficult in a regional institution so dependent and interconnected with its local community. This dissertation proposes a framework for creating and nourishing a symbiotic relationship between the university and its local region that better serves the nonacademic community, enriches the education of university students, and incorporates invitational rhetorical practices that can help neutralize the unavoidable power dynamics in traditional exchanges between academic and non-academic populations. Situated at the intersection of invitational rhetorics, feminist theory and methodologies, and pedagogical studies and practice, this work illustrates the potential of regional, four-year universities to work more effectively and equitably with their local communities. Relying on standard community interactions, long utilized by institutions, I overlay the methodology of invitational rhetoric via local case studies within the genres of public discussion, public performance, and composition pedagogy to reimagine the ways in which academics and institutions engage with the broader public. In Chapter 1, I review the theory of invitational rhetoric, including critiques and defenses; community-engaged pedagogies; and the rhetoric of public engagement. The second chapter introduces The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) and its regional municipality Monroe and details the first case study, a grant funded public discussion series on the history of voting rights in America. Chapter 3 moves to the genre of public performance and second case study, indicating the viability of an invitational means of engagement via the medium of entertainment. In Chapter 4, I turn my attention to the university classroom, the microcosm of the institution as a whole, considering the hierarchical nature of academia in general and of the teacher/student relationship more pointedly. And finally, Chapter 5 considers the 2022-2027 ULM Strategic Plan and proposes an invitational framing as a model for relational repair between public institutions and their respective local communities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]