Across the country, public-facing research projects, centers, and museums housed within universities face the difficult task of engaging the broader public while maintaining strong ties to the academy. These organizations must navigate the uniquely complex challenge of balancing priorities that can sometimes conflict—those of academic institutions and those of the communities they serve. Their work often depends on micro-level, local, person-to-person relationships that require sustained time, trust, and investment, particularly in light of universities’ historical legacies of harm. This roundtable brings together museum and research center practitioners focused on African American and Indigenous history to discuss the current challenges and emerging opportunities facing public-facing university-based projects during a time of uncertainty in the field. Each discussant comes from different sized institutions and represents projects from different time periods in American history. This roundtable will be of interest to public historians, academic historians working on public facing work, and students.