From 1989 to 1995, the American Association of Community Colleges implemented the Beacon College Project to help community colleges develop creative and practical community-building strategies through collaborative initiatives. This report reviews the philosophy behind the project and describes goals and outcomes for the 26 institutions selected as primary Beacon colleges. Following introductory materials, including a map of project locations and a brief description of the project mission, is an overview of project outcomes, indicating that the 26 Beacon colleges engaged nearly 600 institutions, including 250 community colleges, in community-building efforts in 36 states and leveraged approximately $7 million in Beacon funds. This section also reviews key factors in community building. The next three sections describe Beacon initiatives for community building in the classroom, highlighting efforts related to teaching and learning, international education, and technology; in the college, focusing on diversity, leadership, and assessment; and in the community, reviewing school partnerships, workforce partnerships, and service learning. Following conclusions and recommendations from the project, the initiatives, successes, and resulting spinoff programs are described for the 26 Beacon colleges, including programs promoting peer-assisted learning, intercultural awareness, academic and business partnerships, ethics, hazardous materials technology, international education, leadership, multimedia technology, literacy, at-risk student intervention, student diversity, and child development training. (Contains a list of 66 selected readings and an index of colleges. (TGI)