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College, Community College, and University Presidents Form "Presidents' Trust" to Advance Liberal Education as Source of American Civic Vitality and Economic Innovation and Growth

Trust Members To Build Public Understanding of the Value of Liberal Education Outcomes for Students and American Society

Washington, DC—November 20, 2009—The Association of American Colleges and Universities announced today the members of a new Presidents’ Trust—82 college and university leaders who are joining together to strongly and collectively make the case for liberal education and its value in today’s world.  The Presidents’ Trust is a leadership group within AAC&U’s national initiative, Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP): Excellence for Everyone as a Nation Goes To College.

“The Trust has formed at a crucial juncture in the history of U.S. higher education,” said AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider. “As the nation sets new goals for increasing college attainment, we need to focus like a laser on the kinds of learning that build both economic vitality and civic commitment. Members of the Trust, who come from all kinds of institutions, large and small, two-year and four-year, public and private, will work in concert, within their communities, and nationally, to ensure that the United States renews its commitment to a liberal and liberating education—not just for some students, but for all students. In this global century, we want to ensure that college helps all learners develop—across all majors—broad knowledge of the wider world, high-level intellectual and practical skills, a well-developed framework for personal and social responsibility, and the capacity to apply one’s learning to unscripted problems and challenges.”

Members of the LEAP Presidents’ Trust are committed to advocating for the vision, values, and practices that connect liberal education with the individual and societal needs of the twenty-first century. Through regional and national meetings and their own advocacy efforts, Trust members will engage with campus members and those outside of higher education about the core purposes and practices of liberal education.  They are all also providing leadership for advancing reforms in the practice of liberal education both on campus and with other groups and organizations with which they are affiliated.

In 2009-10, the core priority areas for the Presidents’ Trust include:

• Making the economic case for liberal education
• Making—and fulfilling—the civic case for liberal education
• Engaging first-generation families and new Americans with the meaning and value of liberal education
• Integrating liberal arts and professional preparation on campus
• Charting a new direction for assessment and accountability

The Presidents’ Trust advocates for a twenty-first-century vision of liberal education that combines the best of that philosophy of education’s traditional focus on broad knowledge, analytic reasoning, and rigorous contextual study with newer approaches to helping students integrate and apply their learning in new settings.  The Trust believes that a twenty-first-century liberal education empowers individuals with core knowledge and transferable skills and cultivates social responsibility and a strong sense of ethics and values. Characterized by challenging encounters with important issues, a liberal education prepares graduates both for socially valued work and for civic leadership in their society.

See below and www.aacu.org/leap for the list of Presidents’ Trust members.

About LEAP

Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) is an initiative that champions the value of a liberal education—for individual students and for a nation dependent on economic creativity and democratic vitality. The initiative focuses campus practice on fostering essential learning outcomes for all students, whatever their chosen field of study.   LEAP is AAC&U’s primary vehicle for advancing and communicating about the importance of undergraduate liberal education for all students. LEAP seeks to engage the public with core questions about what really matters in college, to give students a compass to guide their learning, and to make a set of essential learning outcomes the preferred framework for educational excellence, assessment of learning, and new alignments between school and college.

About AAC&U

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 1200 member institutions--including 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.

The Presidents’ Trust for Liberal Education and America’s Promise

An AAC&U Presidential Leadership Group

Members (as of November 2009)

Dr. Charles R. Bantz
Chancellor
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Dr. John E. Bassett
President
Clark University

Dr. Michael S. Bassis
President
Westminster College (UT)

Dr. Douglas C. Bennett
President
Earlham College

Dr. Nancy Cantor
President and Chancellor
Syracuse University

Dr. Carol Cartwright
President
Bowling Green State University

Dr. Rebecca S. Chopp
President
Swarthmore College

Dr. Grant H. Cornwell
President
The College of Wooster

Dr. Robert A. Corrigan
President
San Francisco State University

Dr. Ronald Crutcher
President
Wheaton College

Dr. Christopher C. Dahl
President
State University of New York at Geneseo

Dr. George M. Dennison
President
University of Montana

Dr. Anthony J. DiGiorgio
President
Winthrop University

Dr. Evan S. Dobelle
President
Westfield State College

Dr. Margaret L. Drugovich
President
Hartwick College

Dr. Lewis M. Duncan
President
Rollins College

Dr. Donald J. Farish
President
Rowan University

Dr. Elson S. Floyd
President
Washington State University

Dr. Bobby Fong
President
Butler University

Dr. William Fox
President
St. Lawrence University

Dr. David Fuller
President
Minot State University

Dr. Mildred Garcia
President
California State University-Dominguez Hills

Dr. Jan Gehler
President
Scottsdale Community College

Dr. Helen F. Giles-Gee
President
Keene State College

Dr. Philip A. Glotzbach
President
Skidmore College

LTG Michael Gould
Superintendent
United States Air Force Academy

Dr. Mary K. Grant
President
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Dr. Richard Guarasci
President
Wagner College

Dr. Tori Haring-Smith
President
Washington & Jefferson College

Dr. Zelema Harris
Chancellor
St. Louis Community College

Dr. Dianne F. Harrison
President
California State University-Monterey Bay

Dr. William R. Harvey
President
Hampton University

Mr. Leo I. Higdon, Jr.
President
Connecticut College

Dr. David Hodge
President
Miami University

Rev. John I. Jenkins
President
University of Notre Dame

Dr. Richard T. Jurasek
President
Medaille College

Dr. Sung-Mo Kang
Chancellor
University of California-Merced

Dr. Cornelius Kerwin
President
American University

Dr. Leo M. Lambert
President
Elon University

Dr. Paul E. Lingenfelter
President
State Higher Education Executive Officers

Dr. Theodore E. Long
President
Elizabethtown College

Dr. Carol A. Lucey
President
Western Nevada College

Dr. Elaine P. Maimon
President
Governors State University

Dr. George E. Martin
President
St. Edward's University

Dr. David E. Maxwell
President
Drake University

Dr. Joseph J. McGowan, Jr.
President
Bellarmine University

Dr. Francine G. McNairy
President
Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Gail O. Mellow
President
La Guardia Community College - City University of New York

Dr. James G. Moseley
President
Franklin College

Dr. Shirley A. Mullen
President
Houghton College

Dr. Brian Murphy
President
De Anza College

Mr. Christopher Nelson, J.D.
President, Annapolis Campus
St. John's College

Dr. John S. Nixon
President
Mt. San Antonio College

Dr. Elsa Nunez
President
Eastern Connecticut State University

Dr. David W. Oxtoby
President
Pomona College

Dr. Eduardo J. Padron
President
Miami Dade College

Dr. M. Lee Pelton
President
Willamette University

Dr. George Pernsteiner
Chancellor
Oregon University System

Rev. Scott R. Pilarz
President
University of Scranton

Dr. Beverley Pitts
President
University of Indianapolis

Dr. Gary David Pollick
President
Birmingham-Southern College

Dr. Thomas Les Purce
President
The Evergreen State College

Dr. Eric Radtke
President
Prairie State College

Dr. Judith A. Ramaley
President
Winona State University

Dr. Edward J. Ray
President
Oregon State University

Dr. Kevin P. Reilly
President
University of Wisconsin System Administration

Dr. Kenneth P. Ruscio
President
Washington and Lee University

Dr. Carol Geary Schneider
President
Association of American Colleges & Universities

Dr. John F. Schwaller
President
State University of New York College At Potsdam

Dr. Thomas J. Schwarz                                             
President
Purchase College, State University of New York

Dr. Robert A. Scott
President
Adelphi University

Dr. David E. Shi
President
Furman University

Dr. Lou Anna Simon
President
Michigan State University

Dr. John B. Simpson
President
State University of New York at Buffalo

Dr. Debora L. Spar
President
Barnard College

Dr. Mary Spilde
President
Lane Community College

Dr. Daniel F. Sullivan
President Emeritus
St. Lawrence University

Mr. Sanford J. Ungar
President
Goucher College

Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J.
President
Fairfield University

Dr. Robert Weisbuch
President
Drew University

Dr. Richard H. Wells
Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

Dr. John D. Welty
President
California State University-Fresno