Press Release

CONTACT: Debra Humphreys
(202) 387-3760 (ext. 422)
E-mail: humphreys@aacu.org

More Than 1,000 College Leaders Gather to Debate the Future of Liberal Education in Turbulent Times

Washington, DC—January 24, 2003—The challenges of our time demand a critical evaluation of the purposes and practices of undergraduate education. In a moment characterized at once by an explosion in college enrollment and by turbulent world and national events demanding an engaged citizenry, more than 1,000 college leaders gathered in Seattle this week to debate fundamental questions about the future of higher education:

• How do we bridge the divide between elites-who see liberal education as the key to opportunity-and first generation students, who frequently view liberal education as a luxury?

• Why is liberal education gaining attention around the globe? Is it advancing or regressing in the United States?

• What are the "Greater Expectations" goals for student learning in the 21st century?

• Are colleges doing enough to assist with school reform and to hold their own students to higher standards?

• How do we foster in students the courage to question conventional wisdom and thinking?

• What knowledge do students need in an age of global crossings, scientific revolutions and democratic challenges?

• How can we foster new civic values in an era of globalization, international violence, and persistent inequalities?

This year's meeting in Seattle featured:

A Community Forum on "Critical Patriotism: Liberal Education, Citizenship
and the Public Good"
Moderated by Steve Scher, Host, and Executive Producer of Weekday on KUOW

This community forum examined the academy's responsibilities in times of national crisis. What connections should we make between the intellectual work of the academy and our actions as citizens of the nation and the world? What are the obligations of students, faculty, and academic leaders in taking critical stances and asking difficult questions of our government, nation, and ourselves?

Additional highlights of the meeting included:

• A Symposium on "Diversity, Inequality, and the Challenge of Global Citizenship"

• A College Presidents' Forum on "Making the Public Case for Liberal Education"

• A Forum on Trends in Faculty Staffing and the Impact on Student Learning

• The meeting also included featured addresses by: Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor
  of History, Columbia University

• Mamphela Aletta Ramphele, Managing Director of Human Development,
  The World Bank

• Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, Dean, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

• Lee Shulman, President, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

Other featured and concurrent sessions addressed such topics as: new assessment techniques and data on educational achievement; new models for campus diversity and academic excellence; trends in the spread of liberal education around the world; new data from the National Survey of Student Engagement; findings from the Project on the Future of Higher Education; new strategies for connecting high school and college learning; models for international service learning; campus responses to September 11; and the influence of market values on higher education.

AAC&U is the leading national association devoted to advancing and strengthening liberal learning for all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Since its founding in 1915, AAC&U's membership has grown to more than 1000 accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, and faculty members who are engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Its mission is to reinforce the collective commitment to liberal education at both the national and local levels and to help individual institutions keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

Information about AAC&U membership, programs and publications can be found at www.aacu.org.