Chapter Overview
When I attended my first Senior Dinner as president of Hiram College, I asked our soon-to-be graduates how many of them were pursuing a career in public service. I was totally taken aback when not one student raised his or her hand. I naively assumed that at least a half dozen of the 200 in attendance had found jobs in the government. No, not one of our graduates was headed to Washington, D.C.
I asked a lot of questions that first year, and many of the answers surprised me. This one was different. My heart—not my head—told me that getting our best and brightest enthused about participating in our democracy had to be one of my top priorities. Like so many of my generation, I was inspired by the words of John F. Kennedy to find ways to serve my country.
This is not the case these days, although the 2008 presidential race did rekindle some interest and enthusiasm. I’m convinced that ongoing scandals involving our elected officials and the “professionalization” of public office have dramatically changed the state of our democracy. Many of our young people hold the government and our country’s leaders in low esteem. What is even more upsetting to me is that students are just not interested in politics, government or public service.
Dr. Chema and Hiram embarked on a program to engage the hearts and minds of its students in the democratic process. His chapter describes the initiatives the College enacted to change a mindset. Many of these can easily be replicated by other institutions.
In these difficult times, Dr. Chema believes we all are all painfully aware of the lack of civility in public discourse. By giving up our own roles in public service, we’ve allowed too many noncritical thinkers control of the airways and domination of the printed word. Anything we can do to foster meaningful dialogue and teach our students to be problem solvers is critical to our own colleges and universities—and to our country.
We hope you enjoy Dr. Chema’s inspirational chapter.
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