The New Conversation on Campus: America’s Constitutional Tradition Annual Report 2011 1 CONTENTS About the Jack Miller Center 2 Executive Summary 4 Milestones 6 Postdoctoral Fellowship Program 8 Faculty Development Institutes 10 New Initiatives 12 Interview: Chancellor Frank Brogan 14 Partner Programs 16 Chicago Initiative 25 Leadership 26 The Jack Miller Center Financials 26 Chicago entrepreneur and philanthropist Jack Miller began supporting programs in higher education in 2004, when he learned that education in our nation’s Founding Principles had largely vanished from America’s college campuses. In 2007, the Jack Miller Center (JMC) was formally established as a private foundation with headquarters in Philadelphia. In December of 2010 the Internal Revenue Service granted the JMC public charity status. Others have joined Mr. Miller in support of this growing effort, which now extends to 179 campuses throughout the country. “It is wonderful to see how things are really taking off across the country as a result Our strategy has two main elements: we work with established faculty on college cam- puses to start and grow programs that advance education in America’s Founding Prin- of the Jack Miller Center’s efforts. It’s interesting to see how the conversation has ciples and history; and we help young scholars advance their careers and secure teaching positions. changed...we are less focused on what is wrong at our schools and more focused on what we can do.” Professor Colleen Sheehan Villanova University ON THE COVER: Professor of Political Science Colleen Sheehan, Miller Postdoc- toral Fellow Matthew O’Brien, and students Brenda Hafera and Mission Colin Feiter continue a discussion after class on Villanova Uni- To enrich education in America’s Founding Principles and history by supporting col- versity’s campus. Professor Sheehan directs the Matthew J. Ryan lege professors who want to expand opportunities for their students to study the deep Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good, a roots of American history, government, and political thought. We provide these profes- JMC partner program. According to the mission statement of sors with programs and services that enhance their knowledge, advance their careers, the Ryan Center, the program aims to “promote inquiry into support their teaching, and engage them as a community of scholars. the principles and processes of free government and seeks to advance understanding of the responsibilities of statesmen and citizens of constitutional democratic studies.” The Ryan Center sponsors a series of public lectures throughout the academic year, in addition to undergraduate student/faculty reading groups, undergraduate scholarships, and graduate stu- dent symposia. Dr. O’Brien, as a postdoctoral fellow, teaches in the “Pursuit of Excellence Learning Community” of the Vil- lanova Center for Liberal Education and engages in scholarly research. 2 3 A Conversation Renewed s you will read in the following pages, we are, indeed, renewing the conversa- tion about America’s constitutional tradition. Thanks to our collaborative ef- forts with hundreds of faculty partners on college campuses across the nation, thousandsA of undergraduate students are now taking courses and attending lectures, Z seminars and symposiums all dedicated to studying, discussing and learning about America’s Founding Principles, the ideas that have made our country so great. Our tion. The journal will be available in hundreds of university libraries nationwide. You project has achieved remarkable success in a short amount of time, and we believe we can read more about the journal on page 13. can make an even greater impact on undergraduate education moving forward. We anticipate that 2012 will be another strong year for us as we work to help launch We began our efforts in 2004 in response to mounting evidence that college gradu- new programs on campuses, including the Benjamin Franklin Project at IIT, and we ates—the future voters and leaders of our country—lacked the knowledge of America’s are working on exciting new capabilities regarding Web-based education. Executive Summary Founding Principles and history necessary to be informed and engaged citizens. The We are proud of our accomplishments, we are grateful to our supporters who are mak- Jack Miller Center was incorporated as a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(C)(3) foundation ing all of this possible, and we are excited about the potential to extend this essential with headquarters in Philadelphia in 2007 with the mission to reinvigorate education education to even more students in the coming years. in America’s Founding Principles and history. In just the past four years the demand for our services from faculty, fueled by students’ desire to learn, has resulted in signifi- cant growth: Jack Miller, chairman Mike Ratliff, president 2008 2011 Faculty Partners 125 492 Academic Centers 8 46 “I can’t tell you how many Postdoctoral Fellowships 8 79 In 2011 alone the JMC’s faculty network expanded by nearly 100 new members, and of our students have told about half of these scholars attended our faculty development summer institutes in Looking Ahead: Change and the Campus of the Future partnership with the University of Virginia and the University of California-Los An- me how delighted they geles. We helped launch and expand academic centers of excellence on eight additional The SPG is comprised of JMC officers, board members, campuses, including American University, Arizona State University, Carthage College, were to have the opportu- and partner faculty and includes: Gettysburg College, College of the Holy Cross, Loyola University Chicago, University n 2011, the JMC brought together a Strate- nity to take a course that is of California-Davis, and Utah State University. Our postdoctoral fellowship program, Professor Michael Munger, Duke University gic Planning Group (SPG) of professors and both intellectually rigorous in partnership with the Manhattan Institute, added 27 fellows in the 2011-2012 aca- Dr. Kevin Wagner, Florida Atlantic University demic year. JMC staff to focus on understanding how Dr. John Zumbrunnen, University of Wisconsin and focused on questions of Icurrent trends in American higher education A major highlight in 2011 was the launch of our Constitution Day Initiative (CDI). Dr. Benjamin Kleinerman, Michigan State University American values.” With support from the JMC, 27 campuses conducted programming (lectures, debates, will reshape college campuses and alter the edu- panel discussions, student essay prizes, etc.) to commemorate our constitutional heri- cation that prepares students to be thoughtful The Honorable Bruce Cole, Fellow at the Hudson Insti- Professor Michael Gillespie tage and deepen students’ understanding of America’s Founding Principles. Supreme tute and engaged citizens. Duke University Court Justices Steven Breyer and Antonin Scalia participated in two separate events Professor James Ceaser, University of Virginia supported by our partner at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Kent School of Law, The strategic planning effort looked ahead and Professor Bill McClay, University of Tennessee and both events drew large crowds of students and faculty. To expand the CDI to even more colleges and universities in 2012, Professor Dan Cullen of Rhodes College has thought broadly about economic and technolog- Jack Miller, chairman, JMC joined our team as a Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies. He will lead this exciting ical drivers in higher education. A better under- Mike Ratliff, Rear Admiral (USN, ret.), president, JMC project, working with Dr. Michael Andrews and the distinguished national advisory standing of the direction of change enables us to group that helped shape the program in its first year. Dr. Mike Andrews, executive officer and vice president position the efforts of the JMC to capitalize on for education, JMC In partnership with the University of Chicago Press and the University of Notre Dame, where higher education is going. we worked hard to get ready for the debut of American Political Thought in the spring of Dr. Rafe Major, director for faculty programs, JMC 2012. The first journal devoted exclusively to the study of American political thought, Mr. Sam Bellows, program officer, JMC this peer-reviewed publication promises to have a long-lasting impact on higher educa- 4 5 2011 Highlights Program Growth: By the Numbers: 2004 - 2011 • Expanded faculty network by nearly 100 scholars 492 Faculty partners on 179 campuses • Added 8 partner programs, bringing the total to 46 79 Postdoctoral fellowships 46 Partner programs on campuses • Added 27 fellows to our postdoctoral program 27 Campuses conducted Constitution Day programs 13 Faculty development summer institutes 8 Colleges and universities in the Chicago Initiative JMC Milestones 2011 JMC renames its quarterly 8 National summits on higher education January Spring 2011 4 High school teacher summer academies newsletter to “The Declaration” MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Benjamin Franklin Declaring Volume 2 the Vision Jack Miller Center to Spend $3.15 Million on Academic Programs in 2011 By Jack Miller JMC-Veritas Joint Higher Education Initiative Key as Support for Academic Centers, Postdoctoral Fellowships Grows to Nearly $3.5 JMC/Bradley Foundation With this edition of our newsletter Million Over Four Years we are introducing its new name, April The Declaration, in recognition of he Jack Miller Center plans other academic programs on college Conference on Liberal Democracy ourand nation’s DeclarationLiberal of Inde- Educationto spend over $3,150,000 to campuses. Since the partnership was pendence in 1776. I would like support academic programs on established between the two organiza- to share with you some of my Tcollege campuses across the United tions in 2009 they have committed Liberal Democracy and Liberal Education thoughts about this wonderful States in 2011, according to current $3,495,000 to help support academic document, one that continues to budget projections. “ O u r challengecenters and postdoctoral fellowships inspire men and women around on campuses across the United States.