Efforts by metropolitan universities to engage in meaningful and democratic partnerships with community organizations require much time, effort, and considerable resources from the university and its various constituents. Widener University is located in a distressed urban environment. This study, presented from the perspective of the university's president, highlights the challenges associated with engaging in such work and provides insight into possible future directions for advancing an institution-wide civic engagement agenda. It outlines in detail the initiatives created between Widener and the Chester, Pennsylvania, school district over six years and explains how after many failures, the university came to the conclusion that its best chance for success would be to develop a separately chartered university partnership school. The account forcefully underscores that the costs associated with civic engagement are worth the investment in spite of the number of setbacks and frustrations inherent in this type of work. (Contains 7 notes.)