RISD has made the list of the country’s top 25 “best neighbor” colleges and universities, which was released yesterday at the annual conference of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities in Philadelphia. The 25 leading institutions cited in Saviors of Our Cities: A Survey of Best College and University Civic Partnerships were selected based on demonstrated efforts to make a positive impact on their urban communities through activities such as revitalization, economic and urban development, community service and cultural renewal (see this New York Times blog post for more). Penn and UCLA tied for first place, while RISD ranked 20th in the survey, making it the only college in New England and the only art school in the country to rank in the top 25.