A tale of five cities: the home of the national office of Phi Beta Kappa in Washington, D.C.; the cities of our three new Phi Beta Kappa chapters; and Ljubljana, Slovenia, where I spoke to an international conference on the pressing topic of free speech and academic freedom. My stories from these cities are all different, but the through line is unmistakable. The United States higher education system, and liberal arts and sciences institutions in particular, are central to America’s creativity, productivity, and security. In short, a robust higher education sector is essential to the nation’s future and deserves our support more than ever.
Let me begin with our three newest chapters: the College of Charleston, Gonzaga University, and Texas State University (pictured on the cover of this Key Reporter issue). Every three years, after an exacting process of evaluation, new chapters of Phi Beta Kappa are installed. These newest chapters span the country geographically, from Charleston, South Carolina, to Spokane, Washington, to San Marcos, Texas. They also represent three diverse and inspiring stories of higher education in this country. The College of Charleston, founded in 1770 and now with more than 10,000 students at its historic downtown Charleston campus, is guided by a mission to develop “ethically centered, intellectually versatile, and globally fluent students.” Gonzaga University, a Jesuit university with a deep commitment to the liberal arts, seeks to be “an exemplary learning community that educates students for lives of leadership and service for the common good.” And Texas State University, formerly Southwest Texas State Teachers School, has developed into one of the nation’s largest universities with “an unwavering belief in the power of education to transform communities, power economies, and reimagine the world.”
The history of Texas State is deeply intertwined with that of ΦBK. Their most celebrated alumnus, Lyndon B. Johnson, returned to campus in 1965 to sign the Higher Education Act. He spoke movingly of his own financial challenges to attend university and the need for the nation to invest in its students. That same year, President Johnson signed the legislation creating the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts, the NEH and the NEA, the culmination of a process in which Phi Beta Kappa played an instrumental role. In signing the legislation that created the endowments, President Johnson reinforced ΦBK’s own values:
Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves, and to others, the inner vision which guides us as a Nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.
What this bill really does is to bring active support to this great national asset, to make fresher the winds of art in this great land of ours.
The arts and the humanities belong to the people, for it is, after all, the people who create them.
I was joined at the chapter installation ceremonies by our President, Esther Jones, who spoke of the commitment of all the “institutions that shelter our chapters, in all their splendid variation—large and small, public and private, faith-based and secular . . . . They cultivate not only knowledge, but the essential skills that shape engaged citizens committed to ongoing intellectual growth that contributes to the betterment of our society.”
Fortified and inspired by our chapter installations, I returned to Washington with renewed energy to work alongside our dedicated staff, and with the backing of the ΦBK Senate, in support of our mission. As our government debates the future course of the nation, we will advocate strongly to save the National Endowment for the Humanities from closure; to protect scientific research that is threatened by funding reductions and highly restrictive reimbursement rules; to prevent cuts to financial aid that, as President Johnson said 60 years ago, is essential to allow promising students to obtain a college education; and to oppose crippling tax increases on college endowments.
Meanwhile, far from home in Ljubljana, I was further galvanized by conversations with international diplomats, lawyers, and academics who gathered to mark the 20th anniversary of the “Responsibility to Protect” global commitment of nations, endorsed by the United Nations, to protect victims of crimes against humanity. Of equal importance to formal papers were the informal meetings with leaders of Slovenian civil society, from the worlds of business, law, government, and the academy, including former ambassadors and the former foreign minister. To a person, they expressed their admiration for the unique and precious American system of higher education, as well as their concern for the United States. Many of them had spent extensive time in this country, both for their education and professionally. All believed that our country has served as a beacon for young democracies worldwide and hoped it would continue to play this role on the global stage.
While in Ljubljana, I was reminded of something that Esther Jones had said in her remarks in Charleston, San Marcos and Spokane, and that we think about at the national office of ΦBK in Washington every day: the values of Phi Beta Kappa “are not just academic virtues; they are the very foundation of a thriving democracy.”
Frederick M. Lawrence
Secretary and CEO
Secretary Lawrence has spoken nationally and internationally on free expression, academic freedom, and the importance of liberal arts & sciences education. Over the past months he spoke at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, the Hertie School in Berlin and Universitá Cá Foscari Venezia in Venice. He has addressed the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education, and the annual Higher Education Law & Policy conference. He has appeared on PBS NewsHour, CNN, and CBC. In addition to his role at the Society, Secretary Lawrence is a distinguished lecturer at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches “Free Speech on Campus” and “Higher Education and the Law.” He is the author of numerous articles on the topics of free expression, free inquiry, and academic freedom, and he is a co-author of the forthcoming new edition of Higher Education and the Law, the leading casebook in the field.