Press Release

Debra Humphreys
Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs
202-387-3760 ext. 422
Humphreys@aacu.org

LEAP Colleges and Universities Touted as “Unsung Gems” by the New York Times

Innovative Liberal Education Practices Common Thread in Profiles of Twenty Institutions Praised for Their Excellent Undergraduate Programs

Washington, DC—August 1, 2006—A recent article in Education Life, a supplement to the Sunday New York Times, highlighted twenty excellent colleges and universities that are on “insider’s short lists.”  In the article, Randal C. Archibold suggests that prospective students expand their college searches beyond the most well-known schools.  Archibold based his findings on interviews with education researchers, including two members of the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ (AAC&U) Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) National Leadership Council, Lee Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and George Kuh, director of the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University and of the National Survey of Student Engagement.  The author notes that, “in the caliber of undergraduate teaching, many lesser-known campuses…are on equal or near-equal footing with brand-name universities, and in some ways are more three-dimensional.”

As AAC&U noted in a July 31 letter to the New York Times, all twenty of the featured “unsung gems” are active AAC&U member campuses (see list below), and several have previously been recognized by AAC&U for their leadership in fostering more intentional practices in liberal education.  Ten are participants in the LEAP initiative.  As AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider notes in that letter, “The innovative practices featured in [the] story are proven ways to help today’s diverse students achieve the essential outcomes of a 21st century liberal education."

Effective educational practices are a central theme in AAC&U’s LEAP initiative, which champions the value of a contemporary liberal education—for individual students and for a nation dependent on economic creativity and democratic vitality.  LEAP defines liberal education as a set of aims and outcomes for ALL students’ college learning that should be addressed from first to final year, and in all college majors.  The New York Times article features several practices that LEAP recommends, including:  interdisciplinary first-year programs; undergraduate research, capstone independent study and projects; campus-wide emphasis on diversity and intercultural learning, and experiential and service learning within the college curriculum. 

Five of the schools highlighted as “gems” are led by presidents who are helping to lead AAC&U’s LEAP campaign.  Ronald Crutcher, current president of Wheaton College and former provost at Miami University—both institutions highlighted in the article—is the co-chair of the LEAP National Leadership Council and a previous chair of AAC&U’s board of directors.  Other LEAP presidents whose institutions are featured include Elisabeth A. Zinser, outgoing president of Southern Oregon University and past chair of AAC&U’s board, R. Stanton Hales, president of the College of Wooster and former treasurer of AAC&U’s board, Christopher C. Dahl, president of the State University of New York, Geneseo and current vice chair of AAC&U’s board, and Thomas L. (Les) Purce, former AAC&U board member and president of The Evergreen State College.

“As AAC&U’s board of directors has affirmed, leadership to strengthen the quality of liberal education is the nation’s best investment in our shared future,” said Schneider.  “It is also the best investment campus leaders can make in the strength and vitality of their own institution.  We are very pleased to see that the media is turning its attention to the importance of the quality of undergraduate learning and to the centrality of liberal education practices in any prospective student’s college search.”

The campaign seeks to expand public and student understanding of what really matters in college—the kinds of learning that will truly empower them to succeed and make a difference in the 21st century. Launched in 2005, on the occasion of AAC&U’s 90th anniversary, LEAP is AAC&U's primary vehicle for advancing and communicating about the importance of undergraduate liberal education for all students, regardless of their chosen field or institution.  The LEAP campaign is led by a National Leadership Council, currently engages more than 140 colleges and universities of all sorts in its Campus Action Network, and will release a report on “College Learning for a New Global Century” and the results of two national polls about the learning students need to navigate the new global economy in January, 2007.  For information about the campaign, see www.aacu.org/advocacy.

Institutions Highlighted in Education Life July 30, 2006 article:

Pitzer College (CA)
Santa Clara University (CA)
Mills College (CA)
Southern Oregon University (OR)
Evergreen State University (WA)
Whitman College (WA)
Colorado College (CO)
University of Oklahoma (OK)
Macalester College (MN)
Carleton College (MN)
Grinnell College (IA)
Cornell College (IA)
Kalamazoo College (MI)
Earlham College (IN)
Miami University (OH)
Kenyon College (OH)
College of Wooster (OH)
SUNY Geneseo (NY)
Union College (NY)
Wheaton College (MA)

AAC&U is the leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,000 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.