Presidents' Campaign for the Advancement
of Liberal Learning

In October 2001, AAC&U's Board of Directors approved a Presidents' Campaign for the Advancement of Liberal Learning (CALL). The association called upon all college presidents to pledge to help educate the public—both within and outside of higher education—about the value of liberal education for all college students whatever their chosen field or vocation. This campaign was designed to contribute to AAC&U's efforts to make excellence in liberal education an equal opportunity commitment for every student and a democratic society.

Between 2001-2003, more than 525 college and university presidents signed the Presidents' CALL. In addition, forty-two campuses hosted or co-hosted Campus-Community Dialogues in fifteen different locations across the country in 2002-2005. More dialogues are planned for 2003-2004. These regional roundtable discussions bring together presidents and academic leaders with secondary educators, business, and community leaders to address the learning students need in today's society. Dialogue participants use the Greater Expectations National Panel Report as a resource for discussion of the aims, purposes, and best practices of a twenty-first century liberal education.

AAC&U's current public advocacy campaign, Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP), builds on the Presidents' CALL. For more information on LEAP see the AAC&U Advocacy pages.

The Presidents' Campaign for the Advancement of Liberal Learning is supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. For more information contact Bethany Zecher Sutton at sutton@aacu.org at 202-387-3760.