Over the past three months, I have made a number of trips related to the American Democracy Project…to ADP campuses, to state-wide meetings, to conferences, and to other gatherings.  This is a report of what I’m seeing and hearing.

First, let me thank all of my hosts, particularly for the campus visits.  I feel privileged to have been invited to such a wide range of institutions and states, and to be involved in so many different activities related to the American Democracy Project.  I learned an enormous amount from these visits, both about shining successes and continuing struggles.  The trips have helped me become more effective in representing all of you, and I am grateful for the time and energy that all of my hosts expended to make the visits so rewarding.

What most impressed me was the sense of commitment, the passion, and the excitement about this civic engagement undertaking.  I am enormously inspired by the progress being made at American Democracy Project campuses across the country. 

This report cannot possibly capture all of the activities, all of the conversations, and all of the things that I discovered in this journey across America .  Instead, I try in this narrative to give you a sense of some of the most interesting and unique issues that might have broader application.  This is a tough assignment, for each visit was unique and special, filled with rich conversations, ideas, and insights.  What follows is only a brief description of my journey.

Morrow, Georgia      February 2005

At a state-wide presentation to students from honors programs throughout Georgia at Clayton College and State University , I had a student ask me the following question:  “My friend and I (sitting together that morning) are from different political parties.  I belong to the Young Democrats and she belongs to the Young Republicans.  We get along fine together, but our two organizations cannot be in a room together without screaming and throwing wadded up paper at each other.  How do we build an environment where we can engage in civil discourse and actually talk about issues?”

I tried to answer the question…but it wasn’t much of an answer.  I told her they were just mimicking the two political parties.  Why would they know how to act differently?  I offered some additional suggestions, but I didn’t feel very good about my answers.  She knew intuitively that what they were doing was unproductive, but she felt trapped by circumstances.  We all need to think about how to answer her question.  How do we provide models of discourse that challenge the prevailing national models?  How do we provide opportunities for students to talk across difference?  What could we do to change the climate of political discourse on our campuses?

Edmond , Oklahoma      February 2005

I participated in a very inspiring state-wide American Democracy Project conference at the University of Central Oklahoma .  UCO has developed a comprehensive approach to civic transformation.  This was a conference that was designed to foster civic engagement among a number of higher education institutions in Oklahoma , with UCO providing strong leadership.  While there, Don Betz, the provost, took me by the statue that was the winner of the First Annual Outdoor Sculpture Contest, a contest focused on the American Democracy Project.  The winning entry, “Breathe,” has been installed in a permanent location in the middle of campus.  The 15 foot human-like figure, with arms outstretched, rests on a base with an inscription by David Thummel, the artist and UCO graduate:  “Freedom embraces our arrangement as a civil society, allowing us to decorate our character as we wish.  So breathe deep, because at the bottom of every breath, the opportunity to make a difference waits for you.”       

Hays, Kansas      March 2005

At Fort Hays State University , I met with a group of community members early one morning.  The next day, the newspaper editor (one of the participants) wrote an editorial about the meeting and the larger questions of civic engagement which captures some of the concerns animating the American Democracy Project.  “We live in an increasingly disconnected society because, maybe mostly by accident, we have become a self-centered society.  Somewhere along the line, we lost much of our traditional sense of community.”  That same day, I participated in a program called “Times Talk,” an event open to students, faculty and staff, designed to discuss major events of the day.  Sponsored by The New York Times, the program offers pizzas and cokes to the first 20 people that show up.  The event I went to was crowded, with perhaps 30 or 35 people present.  The discussion was about leadership, the role of Specialist Wilson (who asked the Secretary of Defense about armor at a news conference in Iraq, making headlines around the world), and the obligation of everyone in an organization to be a leader.  I think the issue of leadership is significant for all of us involved in the American democracy Project.  Students, when they graduate, join the 25% of the U.S. population with college degrees.  What obligations does being in the top 25% educationally in this country incur?

After my visit, the director of the Student Union sent me excerpts from a pamphlet entitled “What is a College Union?” (available from Association of College Unions International, $1.25 for non-members, https://www.acui.org/Acui/Bookstore/Cart/detail.cfm?id=57).  The pamphlet describes the historic role of the student union on university campuses 200 years ago as a place where students, faculty and staff gathered to discuss current issues and concerns.  For example, Lauren ce Crosby and Frank Aydelotte, writing in Oxford of Today in 1923, said: “The Union - the most famous of all University associations – was founded early in the nineteenth century….for many decades now it has been open to all who care to join, and its aim has been to provide place and opportunity for airing political views.”  My experience at Fort Hays State , especially the “Times Talk” event and the discussion of the historic role of college unions, prompted the following questions:  Where do we create spaces in our institutions for students, faculty and staff to gather together outside of the normal structures and formal events?  How do we create spaces for dialogue, and encourage civil discourse around critical contemporary issues?

Cedar Falls , Iowa     March 2005

At the University of Northern Iowa , I met with a number of faculty, staff and student groups, and had dinner with community members.  I found the meeting with the Faculty Senate to be particularly interesting.  They were genuinely interested in what kind of leadership role they might play in the focus on civic engagement.  One faculty member and I talked at length about creating an honor code for UNI as part of the focus on civic engagement.  As I thought about it some more, honor codes seem more and more critical as part of the intentional effort of universities to communicate to students their expectations about how citizens should behave in a democratic society.  Honor codes have been largely the focus of private institutions and military academies.  I’m not sure why many larger public institutions have not been willing to adopt them, unless it is due to the effort to be all things to all people, fearful of offending anyone.  I’m also struck by the connection between honor codes and Anne Colby’s focus on moral issues in our project text, Educating Citizens.  Ultimately, it seems to me, our ways of relating to one another as citizens in a democracy must have a moral dimension.

In my remarks at the community event that night, I lamented the polarization of our political life, especially here in Washington .  After my remarks, a member of the audience came up to talk with me.  He said he was a member of the Iowa legislature, relatively new to state office.  When he campaigned and began his term in office, some of his advisors urged him to run a negative campaign, and subsequently to participate as a polarizing politician, mirroring the behavior of so many others in national politics.  He refused, and instead reached out in the best Harry Boyte model, trying to find areas of common ground with opponents.  As a result, he has had enormous influence, far beyond that normally available to someone so junior in the political process.

Duluth , Minnesota     March 2005

One of the most interesting ADP projects underway at the University of Minnesota-Duluth is a documentary on voting, created by a faculty member in theater.  He and a colleague went around the country, interviewing more than 250 people about why they did or didn’t vote.  A self-described middle-aged liberal, the filmmaker’s partner was a young conservative.  As they went around the country, they talked about their different views of the world.  In their interviews, what struck them both was how unhappy most people were with the current political process, the lack of genuine deliberation, and the demonization of political rivals.  For far too many who did vote, the choice wasn’t an enthusiastic one…only the lesser of two evils.  The film will be ready by late summer, and we’re discussing the possibility of a national teleconference in early fall, using parts of the film, perhaps in conjunction with the creation of new film contest.                

I also had an opportunity to discuss general education with a faculty group.  I seem to come back to general education over and over again, as it is the one place in the curriculum that institutions might be able to truly focus on civic engagement issues, given that far too often, the courses in the major are too focused on the discipline, and not necessarily connected to civic obligations and opportunities.  I often find myself lamenting the fact that general education on too many campuses has become an unseemly brawl for credits.  Students, I suggested, in the way they experience general education, may not even understand its purpose.  So I tested my hypothesis later that day with an audience made up of a large number of students.  I asked one student who had completed her general education requirements to tell me two things:  what the purpose of general education was, and what her own experience had been like.  To my surprise, she gave a very sophisticated description of general education…you could have used it for a catalog description.  But then she commented on her own experience…and reported that she simply took the easiest courses she could.  I have talked on many occasions about institutional intentionality, and I think that’s truly important.  But I think we must also pay attention to the lived experiences of our students, and pay close attention not only to what we intend but what students actually experience.    

Frankfort , Kentucky     March 2005

I was asked to speak about the American Democracy Project at the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.  I was very impressed by what the six AASCU institutions in the state of Kentucky have done to create a state-wide project American Democracy Project initiative.  They have held state-wide meetings, developed state-wide funding proposals, and designed thematic approaches that involve multiple campuses.  It’s the single best example of a comprehensive state-wide effort that I have seen.  Of course I couldn’t help but notice that two of the original members of the American Democracy Project Implementation Committee who helped design the project, Barbara Burch and Mike Moore, are leading that effort in Kentucky .

New Orleans , Louisiana     March 2005

I attended a meeting of the American Judicature Society (AJS) in New Orleans to explore possible partnerships with AJS and with the National Center for State Courts in the creation of the initiative on jury service.  I sat through a number of sessions, surprised to learn that jury trials are actually declining in this country, and are not as common today as they were 30 years ago.  I also heard a fascinating report of research on the death penalty, and the conclusion that greater variation in death penalty sentencing is created by prosecutors than by juries.  Given the concern of death penalty critics about the composition of juries, the issue of prosecutorial variability seemed to add an important dimension to the debate over the death penalty.  After the meeting, two representatives,  from the American Judicature Society and the National Center for State Courts, developed the framework for the initiative on jury service, one of the seven new initiatives in the Civic Engagement in Action series.  I’m particularly interested in this initiative, as it connects campuses to the legal system and offers a number of imaginative program opportunities for the entire campus.

Indianapolis , Indiana     March 2005

There was a joint AASCU-IUPUI conference on assessing civic engagement and promoting the scholarship of engagement using multiple examples from Indiana University Purdue University   Indianapolis (IUPUI) in late March.  Twenty-four teams (more than 100 participants), lead by chief academic officers, attended.  I was struck by how deeply IUPUI has tried to inculcate the work of civic engagement into every dimension of its institutional life.  Most notably, IUPUI has dramatically changed the reward structure for faculty, expanding the idea of service to recognize service in the community, as well as expanding the concept of scholarship to include the scholarship of engagement.  IUPUI faculty and administrators delivered an impressive and wide-ranging set of presentations for our 24 university teams, reflecting their comprehensive commitment to civic engagement throughout the campus.

While there, I saw IUPUI’s Democracy Plaza , an attempt to create a public space for dialogue and discussion.  In this designated area, each week a set of thoughtful questions are posed, and students, faculty and staff can write responses with chalk in the space provided or make oral comments (a little like the Hyde Park Corner in London).  When I saw the Plaza, I was impressed by the thoughtfulness of some of the responses…but saddened to see that a few respondents used the space to offer insults or make inappropriate comments… underscoring once again the need to pursue this work with our students, to encourage the development of the capacity for civil dialogue

Bemidji , Minnesota     April 2005

I was invited to Bemidji State University to support the work of the ADP on that campus.  Like so many places, Bemidji has a wonderful group of inspired and committed individuals involved in their American Democracy Project.  But like so many other campuses, they are struggling to figure out how to identify the particular projects and strategies that will engage more of the campus and move the agenda forward on civic engagement.  Each campus has to figure out which people will be able to transform the campus agenda.  As I often say, it doesn’t take everyone.  Margaret Mead was right:  “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”  On several occasions I’ve mentioned the conclusions of historians of the American Revolution, who estimate that only a third of the colonists supported the war, and worse, that the highest support was in 1776, when the war started; support declined from then until 1783, when the war was actually won.  Bemidji is blessed with students who are enthusiastic about their campus.  I had a fascinating conversation with three students about what made Bemidji so student-centered.  They each reported the same thing in different ways…that people treated them with respect as individuals.  One said that faculty members in the building where he majored who he had not taken any classes from still said hello to him.  A second said that faculty in the building where he worked would stop and talk to him.  A third student said that even janitors would talk to him.  I reported that conversation and the notion of student-centeredness to a group of faculty and administrators. One faculty member took exception to the term student-centered.  He argued that Bemidji was really learning-centered, which is probably a useful distinction.

We talked at Bemidji about infusing civic engagement into the first year of college.  That’s another initiative, indeed the most popular of the seven new initiatives in the Civic Engagement in Action series.  We currently have 27 campuses signed up to participate in the pre-conference session on June 16th at Portland .  I think there are great opportunities to introduce civic ideas into the First Year programming.  Despite my enthusiasm for this initiative, I sometimes wonder whether the First Year is the right place to focus on civic issues.  First year students may be too overwhelmed to really focus on citizenship issues.  On the other hand, it may be the perfect time to talk about being a citizen of a campus, and what that means in classroom behavior, social behavior, etc.      

La Grande , Oregon     April 2005

The campus of Eastern Oregon University is home to a wonderful collection of civic engagement enthusiasts.  The campus is working with the community on a wide variety of civic engagement issues…truly an impressive set of programs.  I raised the question there that probably needs to be raised everywhere.  How do we know if our efforts are making any difference?  The need to assess our work, both at the course and program level, and at the institutional level, is critical.  At the institutional level, I’ve concluded that the NSSE pilot that we began last year needs to be substantially expanded if we are to get meaningful measures to compare first year and senior students.  It’s simply too limited right now to yield useful data.  At the course or program level, there is an equal need for more assessment. I can imagine that a service-learning project might result in much deeper learning about a particular subject, but not ever address one’s role as a citizen.  That often is the neglected “last mile.” Yet if we are to be intentional about this work, we must be intentional about creating explicit linkages and opportunities for students to think about and reflect on the civic meaning of their experience.  And we must be willing to assess how we’re doing and adjust our plans and activities.            

While at Eastern, I had a conversation with my host about the possibility of a first year composition course networked among as many as 20-30 institutions, using a common theme, and involving multiple disciplines.  I can imagine national video teleconferences bringing in major speakers, with the teleconferences also web-cast and stored digitally for easy web retrieval; exchanges between students on different campuses; prizes for the best essays; and even the use of on-line tutoring and grading by a commercial provider.  This idea could be linked to our Civic Engagement in the First Year initiative, though in its focus only on composition, it clearly is more narrow than the First Year initiative, which looks at everything that occurs in the first year of college.

The idea of a consortium of first year writing projects is a reminder of how many creative ideas and imaginative projects are on our campuses, waiting to be developed.  I was constantly impressed, throughout my visits, by the ideas, the energy, and the commitment of those that I met.  My thanks again to all who were so gracious to me throughout the spring of 2005.

George L. Mehaffy
AASCU
Washington , D.C.
23 April 2005