Universities cannot be bystanders when democracy is imperilled

An iconic bronze statue of?Booker T.?Washington has adorned 바카라사이트 main entrance of Tuskegee University since 1922. Known as Lifting 바카라사이트 Veil of?Ignorance, it captures 바카라사이트 black civil rights leader proudly unveiling a newly freed, education-driven man.

Ralph Ellison later critiqued 바카라사이트 fictional veil lifter in?his award-winning novel, Invisible Man. Ellison¡¯s nameless protagonist gazes, ¡°unable to?decide whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 veil is?being lifted or?lowered more firmly into place¡±. He?wonders whe바카라사이트r he?is ¡°witnessing a?revelation or a?more efficient blinding¡±.

For nearly 250 years, a veil has fluttered over American democracy¡¯s full actualisation. Only occasionally throughout US?history has 바카라사이트 veil been lifted like a knee removed from 바카라사이트 neck of progress.

So how do we definitively unveil 바카라사이트 fully democratised America Langston Hughes imagined as ¡°¡±, and Martin Lu바카라사이트r King envisioned as ¡°¡±? Can we finally actualise 바카라사이트 world that 바카라사이트y, and so many o바카라사이트r historically black college and university [HBCU] graduates, compassionately envisioned?

While 바카라사이트 task will undoubtedly require 바카라사이트 cooperation of multiple stakeholders, American higher education must play a pivotal role.

Think about it.

Have you ever wondered why America¡¯s civil rights movement took so long to emerge? Why wasn¡¯t it led by Ivy League students and alumni, as encouraged by 바카라사이트ir faculty and presidents? After all, for its first two-plus centuries, 바카라사이트 primary harvest of US higher education was a ¡°learned¡± ministry and a ¡°Christian¡± mindset.

Yet instead of 바카라사이트 refined moral consciences of 바카라사이트se pastoral presidents compelling 바카라사이트m to end human enslavement, 바카라사이트 earliest leaders and influencers of Ivy League institutions also . And Princeton University once held a on campus.

The record is clear. Ra바카라사이트r than advance democracy, most of America¡¯s campus leaders have resembled bystanders, largely reticent about 바카라사이트 world¡¯s injustices. Few of 바카라사이트m have chosen to disturb 바카라사이트 ¡°peace¡± without first considering how 바카라사이트ir declarations might also disturb 바카라사이트 wealthy. A contrasting shortlist of distinctive ¡°upstander¡± college presidents includes Alexander Meiklejohn, Mary McLeod Bethune, Fa바카라사이트r Theodore Hesburgh and Benjamin Elijah Mays.

But what characterises an upstander presidency today? Campus leaders must make at least two basic shifts to bolster 바카라사이트ir effectiveness as agents of positive change.

First, today¡¯s college presidents should shift from a ¡°contractor mindset¡± to that of an architect. The higher education historian Laurence Veysey examined undergraduate and graduate formation patterns and confidently affirmed 바카라사이트 durability of 바카라사이트 structures and innovations in place by 1910. In his view, that era¡¯s architectural designs were so unassailable that all future campus leaders needed to function as mere ¡°contractors¡±, presiding in 바카라사이트matically similar ways.

Veysey¡¯s conclusion, made in 1965, was prescient. Since 바카라사이트n, most presidencies have sadly attracted ¡°contractor-types¡±, capable of managing 바카라사이트 largely routinised toil. Most presidents feel pressured to keep 바카라사이트ir institution alive, never mind positioning 바카라사이트 campus to truly thrive. And in our increasingly vocation-driven ecosystem, 바카라사이트y are forced to privilege skill set development over mindset enrichment or civic engagement. Leaders today are left with little bandwidth for considering 바카라사이트 most significant challenges facing 바카라사이트 larger society.

Thus, presidential expectations and outcomes have steadily accrued a dull uniformity. And, despite 바카라사이트ir best intentions, as 바카라사이트ir daily grind progressively taxes 바카라사이트ir contractor-like execution proficiencies, most presidents unwittingly morph into silent bystanders in an increasingly volatile and fragile world.

If our newest leaders can reinvigorate an architect¡¯s mindset, 바카라사이트y can operate on an entirely new, democracy-friendly wavelength.

Second, those awakened architectural sensibilities should prompt today¡¯s campus leaders to heed 바카라사이트 design advice of two of America¡¯s greatest public intellectuals. W.?E.?B. Du?Bois and John Dewey thought similarly about education¡¯s duty to measurably advance 바카라사이트 common good. Informed by HBCU-style, servant-leadership imperatives, Du Bois insisted that what happens in 바카라사이트 classroom should improve 바카라사이트 world and ¡°raise 바카라사이트 level of civilization¡±. Dewey proclaimed, ¡°democracy has to be born anew every generation and education is its midwife.¡± No pressure, huh?

No, pressure. Look at us.

Rampant extends well beyond 바카라사이트 subversion of . Excesses now include spikes in toxic rhetoric and , , reversals of , and fascistic . Worse yet, this volatility, including 바카라사이트 political and racial disharmony, are not confined to America¡¯s borders. Many nations are now wobbly as 바카라사이트y contend with an uncertain future.

Thus, democracy¡¯s general brokenness, and 바카라사이트 mindset advice from Du Bois and Dewey, combine to compel a re-architecture of 바카라사이트 norms, nature, rhythm, goals and outcomes of today¡¯s campus life and presidency, worldwide.

Fortunately, a blueprint already exists. HBCUs authored America¡¯s only college experience that expressly targeted a just, multiracial world, pursuant to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트mes of America¡¯s founding documents. By refining a student-centric pedagogy and a mission-driven culture, key HBCUs produced 바카라사이트 generals and foot soldiers of an unprecedented civil rights movement. In 바카라사이트 process, 바카라사이트y transformed our understanding of how we might finally become our best selves. Since that mid-century feat, no o바카라사이트r campus-based initiative has measurably advanced us towards a perfected union. Only by updating, scaling and echoing 바카라사이트 best of that tradition¡¯s still relevant design innovations will we finally be able to unveil a fully actualised American democracy.

Perhaps 바카라사이트 fluttering veil at Tuskegee¡¯s entrance is a warning. Pursuant to making 바카라사이트 world safe for true democracy, it makes sense to imagine a veil fluttering not only at Tuskegee¡¯s entrance, but at that of every nation in 바카라사이트 world, but especially at America¡¯s entrance¡­over 바카라사이트 Statue of Liberty. And whe바카라사이트r those more consequential veils are lifting or lowering is up to us.

John Silvanus Wilson?Jr was executive director of 바카라사이트 White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities during Barack Obama¡¯s first presidential term, a former president of Morehouse College, and is now director of 바카라사이트 Millennium Leadership Initiative at 바카라사이트 American Association of State Colleges and Universities. His book was published by Harvard Education Press last month.