October 4, 2005

I'm attaching two documents that I thought you might find interesting. The first is a book review I wrote of David McCullough's new book, 1776. It recently appeared in the inaugural issue of Public Purpose, a new bi-monthly publication from AASCU. The second is an article on the American Democracy Project that appeared in the most recent issue of Change magazine.

As I visit campuses, I'm struck over and over again by the power of leadership. I usually find three conditions on the campuses where real progress is being made on the civic engagement agenda: a president who has publicly endorsed civic engagement outcomes; a chief academic officer who is deeply invested in making change and is taking affirmative action to identify and support campus leaders in their civic engagement work; and a campus coordinator or coordinating committee that is working in creative and imaginative ways to instill civic engagement into the culture, curriculum and co-curriculum. My travels have demonstrated repeatedly that there is enormous support for this work, but as I noted in the recent article, change in higher education is not easy. There are many forces at work to perpetuate the status quo. Yet we are making progress, and I continue to be heartened by all of the good work being done.

I continue to think about the civic lessons from the hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, the role of government, and our obligation to one another. I saw a quote the other day from Janadas Devan, a Straits Times columnist in Singapore, commenting on the failure of government in New Orleans. "[But] it is not only government that doesn't show up when government is starved of resources and leached of all its meaning. Community doesn't show up either, sacrifice doesn't show up, pulling together doesn't show up, 'we're all in this together' doesn't show up."

There was one recent development that may prove to be a long-term benefit from what is otherwise an enormous tragedy. The state of Mississippi is convening a group of architects and urban designers from around the world to hold one large state forum and 10-11 community forums to consider rebuilding cities with designs that are, in the words of the organizer, "more diverse, less auto dependent, more environmentally friendly." There will be ideas "to wind back the heritage to 1950 and earlier, to distinctive coastal architecture, about shade and breezes and durability and neighborliness. This will not be about strip shopping centers and subdivisions." That might spark a reconsideration of community design throughout the country, particularly as we confront very high gasoline prices for the foreseeable future.

Finally, let me recommend a book for your consideration. The Brookings Institution has just published Democracy at Risk: How Political Choices Undermine Citizen Participation, and What We Can Do About It (Macedo et al, 2005). This book grew out of the American Political Science Association's first standing committee on Civic Education and Engagement, created in 2002. Essentially the argument of the authors, a distinguished group of political scientists, is that the policies and institutions of a country shape the willingness of citizens to become involved...and then they examine a number of factors at the national and local level that are discouraging Americans from participating in political life in this country. What makes this book especially useful is its focus not only on analysis but on specific recommendations for improvement.

Its focus on recommendations prompted me to wonder what I would recommend as national steps to foster greater civic engagement. I think if I were in charge, the first thing I would advocate would be the creation of a national citizenship ceremony at age 18, required of all Americans, a ceremony which would include some preparation on the part of those about to become 18 years old (such as passing a citizenship test), language about the rights and responsibilities of citizens, and some form of oath, in a public ceremony.

I've already had questions about next summer's American Democracy Project meeting. It's scheduled for Thursday, June 15th thru Saturday, June 17th, 2006 at the resort at Snowbird, Utah. We already have entertainment booked for Saturday night. We have carefully reviewed the comments from the Portland meeting, and are redesigning the meeting with those comments in mind. It's going to be a terrific event, and I hope many of you will join us.

I look forward to seeing many of you this year, especially in my visits to campuses. Please don't hesitate to contact us at any time if we can be of assistance.

- George