Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Presidential Initiatives Grant: Revitalizing W&M’s Commitment to its Citizen Scholars
Developing good citizens was once deemed central to the mission of America’s colleges and universities. Even after the early period in American higher education shaped by church-related schools, higher education was imagined as inculcating both specific skills and modes of thinking and common cultural values that would serve the commonwealth. Education served a clear public good. During this same period, humanistic study, broadly defined, dominated the curriculum. Studying ancient Greek and Latin, for example, was not meant as an idle pursuit of mastering texts but a formative and expansive education, preparing students to partake in what became the great experiment of American democracy.
At no school has this ethos been stronger than at William & Mary. Since 1693 this university has educated citizen scholars, including some of our nation’s founding fathers, and in 1779 led the way in establishing the nation’s first law school. Our students and faculty draw inspiration from alumni past and present, including our Chancellor, Robert Gates, whose most recent book, A Passion for Leadership, shares lessons on change and reform drawn from fifty years of public service. William & Mary attracts and produces students with a zeal for carrying out the public good and go on to serve in government, NGOs and lead in every imaginable field. Yet, this strong sense of service, while tangentially tied to various curricula and encouraged through many co-curricular and extracurricular opportunities, is not embedded in the humanistic disciplines. As universities are thought primarily as a private good and their very value proposition of universities is being challenged, a question arises: how can promoting engaged citizenship, leadership and service for the public good be re-rooted on our campuses’ soil?
Over a three-year period, William & Mary has developed a program to ground in the humanities the development of active and engaged citizens. The Civic Agency Project (CAP) is a product of our collaborations.
The Citizen Scholar Study Group includes:
Drew Stelljes, Assistant Vice President for Student Engagement and Leadership, Co-Chair
John Lombradini, Weingartner Associate Professor of Government, Co-Chair
Teresa Longo, Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies and Director of the Roy R. Charler Center; Professor of Hispanic Studies
Dania Matos, Deputy Chief Diversity Officer
Eddie Cole, Assistant Professor of Education
Danielle Dallaire, Associate Professor of Psychology
Chris Freiman, Class of 1963 Distinguished Term Associate Professor of Philosophy
Cameron How, Class of 2020
Mary Pelson, Class of 2020
