College

The List
of Twelve
A prestigious
new book examines
colleges that excel
in moral and civic
education – and
Tusculum College
is on the short list
A new book published by the prestigious
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching lists Tusculum College as one of 12
colleges and universities nationwide “that
place moral and civic development at the
center of their educational programs.”
Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905, the
Carnegie Foundation is a major national and
international center for research and policy
studies about teaching. It helped lead the effort
to provide federal aid for higher education
(including Pell Grants), and in the founding
of the Educational Testing Service and the
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association
(TIAA).
The study of which Tusculum was a part
stemmed from a concern, in the words of one
of the authors, that “students’ moral and civic
development is not a high priority in American
higher education.”
The three-year project upon which the book
is based reviewed the practices of moral and
civic education at more than 100 colleges and
universities throughout the country and
included detailed case studies of 12 whose
programs were of particular note, including
Tusculum College. In his foreword to
Educating Citizens: Preparing America’s
Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic
Responsibility, Foundation President Lee
Shulman says that “from the Air Force
Academy to Portland State University … from
Duke University to Tusculum College, they
[the 12] share a commitment to integrating the
highest of academic and civic commitments.”
The book is written by four Carnegie
Foundation scholars: Senior Scholars Anne
Colby and Thomas Ehrlich, Research
Associate Elizabeth Beaumont, and Research
Assistant Jason Stephens. It is published
under the imprint of Jossey-Bass of San
Francisco as the first in a series created in
partnership with the Carnegie Foundation.
In a press release from the Menlo Park,
California-based Carnegie Foundation, the
book is described as a challenge to U.S.
colleges and universities to “make moral and
civic learning an integral part of the
undergraduate experience.”
On its Web site, www.carnegiefoundation.org,
the foundation says of the book: “Through a
grand tour of American higher education,
‘Educating Citizens’ shows how institutions
can equip students with the understanding,
motivation, and skills of responsible and
effective citizenship. The book includes rich
examples from in-depth studies at 12
institutions and from a wide range of effective
programs and approaches on other campuses.
The authors’ guidelines for implementing these
programs can be applied in the full range of
higher-education institutions.”
In a chapter titled “When Educating Citizens
is a Priority,” Tusculum College is examined
along with famous Duke University and
Alverno College, the latter a four-year, liberal
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