Fordham President Tania Tetlow has joined a coalition of more than 100 college presidents committed to preparing students to be engaged citizens and advancing civil discourse on campus.
The College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, convened by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, will focus on three civic commitments: educating for democracy; preparing students for a vibrant, diverse, and contentious society; and protecting and defending free inquiry.
Tetlow said the coalition’s work dovetails with the values of Jesuit universities like Fordham.
“For 500 years, Jesuit universities have taught not just knowledge but wisdom. We teach our values—empathy and openness, and our skills—critical thinking and active listening,” said Tetlow, who signed on to the initiative earlier this month.
“We encourage students to question assumptions, both ours and their own. We model for students how to argue with passion and logic, without attacking the motives of those with whom we disagree.”
The coalition’s civic commitments are woven into the work of Fordham’s FitzSimons Presidential Initiative on Civics and Civility—a yearlong project of education and engagement, offering a model for genuine, respectful dialogue among Americans and fruitful avenues for cooperation in creating solutions to common problems.
Institute for Citizens & Scholars president Rajiv Vinnakota said that higher education has a responsibility to provide students with critical civic skills and knowledge to participate effectively in our constitutional democracy.
“College campuses are among the most diverse spaces in our country, and college is an important time for students to develop the habits, practices, and norms to live in a multicultural and interconnected democracy,” he said.
“Doing so can create a ripple effect, making young people more optimistic and increasingly committed about their future and our nation.”
