Community Engagement was created in 2005 to coordinate and facilitate university service-learning opportunities. It was formed in direct response to former WSU President Irvin D. Reid's strategic goal to make Wayne State University one of the nation's finest urban, public universities by improving the university's service to Detroit. To that end, Jerry Herron, Dean of the Honors College, established Community Engagement with the vision of enhancing student learning through experiential opportunities in the community.

The Irvin D. Reid Honors College is founded on four pillars: community, service, research, and career. Community Engagement immeasurably enhances Honors' ability to develop service-oriented thinking among its student body while serving as a university-wide resource for service-learning.