Other Articles

Building Civic Engagement at Dartmouth

Does higher education have the responsibility to produce scholars and leaders who are prepared to think and act for the common good and who will promote—insist upon— a vital, democratic society? Nationally, an impressive 82 percent of entering college students have been involved in community service. Most continue service during college. However, less than 25 percent of eligible students vote, and only 19 percent think that influencing the political structure of communities and the nation is very important. Thomas Ehrlich and other scholars associated with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching have written "…Higher education has an unprecedented opportunity to influence the democratic knowledge, dispositions, and habits of the heart that graduates carry with them into the public square. We believe that the challenge of the millennium is the renewal of our own democratic life and reassertion of social stewardship." How can Dartmouth foster and release in students the passion and capability to serve as innovative, ethical and committed leaders of the future?

This past year, administrators, students and faculty from diverse areas of campus began meeting to discuss these questions, and to formulate an action plan to promote civic engagement in student life. The Public Impact Initiative, as it is tentatively called, strives "to empower Dartmouth students to become agents for positive social change by providing thoughtful and structured learning experiences." Partners in the fledgling Initiative include the Rockefeller Center, the Tucker Foundation, Career Services, Dean of the College programs, the Center for Women and Gender, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, the Ethics Institute, the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network, the Dickey Center and the Tuck School of business.