Agent of Democracy - Society for College and University Planning

A Portrait of a University
meaning and public purpose, these courses contribute
to student understanding of the democratic process and
the reciprocal relationship between academic and democratic
practices. These courses may also promote
civic and leadership skills through class deliberation
and debate, as well as other classroom activities and
assignments.
It was a compromise and, for me, a placeholder. Students can
still complete our minor with little understanding of the Constitution
and insufficient practice, making explicit connections between
their academic work and their obligations as citizens. We are still
working on this, however, and we are making progress.
More recently, an advising session with the student leader of
a campus organization interested in increasing student engagement
in issues of campus and pubic importance drew my attention to
another democracy problem, one I think of as the neutrality trap. The
student outlined plans to organize debates, to secure speakers on a
variety of topics, and to develop student podcasts on myriad issues.
Underlying her enthusiasm was a desire to ensure that each of the
initiatives would be politically neutral—in her words, “to present
facts, but not just opinions.” At Penn State, and I think elsewhere,
there has been a conscious effort to view neutral discussions as a
positive attribute and political discussion as somehow outside of
acceptable manners, or worse. Why? Political participation has
become an invitation for derision. Our students have grown up in
an environment in which political practice is reduced to vitriolic
name calling. Opposition to the Iraq War is characterized as cutand-run
cowardice. Liberal has lost all connection to its semantic
roots. The 2004 presidential election produced a new term, swiftboating,
which refers to attacking the loyalty as well as the accuracy
of political opponents. Both major parties, all three branches of
government, and certainly the mass media have helped to bring
this about. So has our failure in the schools to build democratic
capacity that includes deep understanding of the positive political
nature of democracy. Certainly the Constitution and democratic
theory view practices relating to the government and to the public
affairs of a democracy—politics—in a more favorable light.
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