College Presidents for Civic Preparedness Convening at Howard University

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars gathered university presidents from College Presidents for Civic Preparedness for a second annual convening at Howard University from January 19-21, 2024. The presidents shared ideas, challenges, and learnings and set the goals and vision for the consortium moving forward.

Since the launch of the initiative in August, College Presidents for Civic Preparedness have been making progress on their campuses to recenter higher education’s commitment to developing empowered citizens.

Here’s a glimpse of what was on the agenda:

• At a time of heightened tensions, ensuring efforts to support diversity and civil discourse are mutually reinforcing, and welcome all members of the campus community to learn from one another.
• Preparing and training faculty and staff to gain the skillsets and design courses to effectively engage with free expression and facilitate dialogue across difference in their classrooms, and lead workshops for peers on their campuses to do the same.
• Engaging students in the civic life of their campus, communities, and the nation in a presidential election year.

Given the significant interest in these issues and the demand from their peers, the presidents also collaborated on what’s next. They explored ways to expand the reach of College Presidents for Civic Preparedness to other institutions to collectively address the role of universities in a democracy. Together, they are navigating a path forward to meet a critical moment for higher education.