For most of our students, this will be the first time they have been able to vote in a presidential election. In keeping with our mission, we have undertaken many non-partisan efforts on campus under the heading, Achieve, Lead, Vote to promote voter registration and to provide objective resources in support of voter literacy.

This fall, over 400 of our students have registered to vote through these on-campus efforts, which have been supported by the All In Campus Democracy Challenge led by the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) and the PA Department of State.

College students can choose to vote in the communities where their families reside, or they can vote here as residents of our campus, and thereby, Selinsgrove. For the latter, we also provide transportation to our two polling places.

I recently received a message from a colleague at a sister institution encouraging campus leaders to use their voices to help shape the outcome of the election stating that this is not a moment for campus neutrality. The issue isn’t one of lapsing from the campus neutrality of the Kalven Report, it is a Title IV concern that institutions receiving federal financial aid cannot be partisan.

As I was advised by a senior colleague a number of years ago, college presidents must be political, but they must not be publicly partisan. Therefore, I can’t endorse a party or a candidate. There can be no political signs in my yard, nor candidate bumper stickers on my car, but I can and should advocate for issues that support our mission and our students and argue against those that oppose them.

For years, when students have asked me for whom I will vote, I have replied “For the candidate who will best support education and the arts.” It plays by the rules, but it also signals to them that I am voting on issues rather than party or personality.

I do vote based on the issues, although more than just two. Sound economic policies, civil rights, the environment, healthcare, infrastructure, and diplomatic philosophies are also important to me. It often yields a mixed ticket.

We tell our students that they should vote, but we don’t tell them how they should vote. We encourage them to reflect on which issues are important to them, and we provide them with the tools to draw objective conclusions as they exercise their civic duty. If that were how all people approached the election, we would surely be enjoying a much more civil national ethos.

Susquehanna University is an institution of higher education that brings learners of different backgrounds, experiences, and talents into dialogue as they pursue knowledge and wisdom together.

To this end, we embrace the principles of free expression outlined by the American Association of University Professors:

Freedom of thought and expression is essential to any institution of higher learning. Universities and colleges exist not only to transmit knowledge. Equally, they interpret, explore, and expand that knowledge by testing the old and proposing the new. This mission guides learning outside the classroom quite as much as in class, and often inspires vigorous debate on those social, economic, and political issues that arouse the strongest passions. In the process, views will be expressed that may seem to many wrong, distasteful, or offensive. Such is the nature of freedom to sift and winnow ideas.[1]

We recognize that to foster an environment conducive to free discourse and debate, under most circumstances, the University itself should maintain a position of neutrality on the topics of the day, except when those subjects are clearly in alignment or at odds with our institutional mission or the “Statement on Ethical and Inclusive Living.” This practice closely aligns with the “Kalven Report” adopted by the University of Chicago:

A university has a great and unique role to play in fostering the development of social and political values in a society. The role is defined by the distinctive mission of the university and defined too by the distinctive characteristics of the university as a community. It is a role for the long term. The mission of the university is the discovery, improvement, and dissemination of knowledge. Its domain of inquiry and scrutiny includes all aspects and all values of society. A university faithful to its mission will provide enduring challenges to social values, policies, practices, and institutions. By design and by effect, it is the institution which creates discontent with the existing social arrangements and proposes new ones. In brief, a good university, like Socrates, will be upsetting.[2]

The aforementioned “Statement on Ethical and Inclusive Living,” affirms that:

We commit to maintaining and fostering a safe and welcoming campus environment that aids us all in the process of lifelong learning and the cultivation of good character. As Susquehanna continues its quest to embody the rich diversity of the human community, we are committed to the full participation of all persons representing the breadth of human differences.

[We]invite wonder into our daily lives. There is always more to understand and more opportunity for improvement in how we live our lives. We strive to learn more about our world and ourselves, and how we can make a positive impact on each. We understand that our curiosity may sometimes lead to discomfort as we confront difficult issues and ideas, and we resolve not to avoid such challenges.

[We]commit to having safe, respectful, and authentic dialogues. We emphasize freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of speech. We believe benefits are derived from sharing perspectives, understandings, and expectations with others – even when they may be in conflict with those held by some in the community. These conflicts are not to be avoided, but threatening or hateful acts are never tolerated. Talking across difference is an opportunity for learning and growth.[3]

As we promote free expression and inquiry, we demonstrate to our students and our community the importance of promoting and navigating an exchange of countervailing positions in strengthening our democracy and enriching the marketplace of ideas.

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[1] American Association of University Professors: “On Freedom of Expression and Campus Speech Codes,” adopted November 1994.

[2] “Kalven Committee: Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action.” University of Chicago: Record, vol. 1, no. 1 (11 November 1967).

[3] “Susquehanna University Statement on Ethical and Inclusive Living.”  This statement sets forth the University’s values and goals; however, it does not create enforceable contractual rights.

Each Fall, we welcome new students back to campus with an opening convocation. These were my remarks to the Class of 2028 on Thursday.

Convocation means to be called together – from vocare meaning voice or calling. We are called together to signal your entry into the life of this university and to celebrate the beginning of your matriculation. It is an opportunity to declare a new beginning for all of us, to be drawn together with one voice to affirm what we are called to do.

Students, you are beginning an extraordinary chapter in your lives, but in addition to your excitement, I know you are experiencing cognitive overload. This is a moment in your lives when you are likely experiencing the most concurrent change: a new community; a new role; soon to be new classmates, neighbors, and friends; will they like you, will you like them; a new academic experience with a different kind of faculty (you’ll soon discover how great they are), and a different set of academic responsibilities. For most of you, for the first time, home has just become a place different from where your family lives.

Right now, most of you are on auto-pilot. That’s normal, and it’s okay, but I want to take a few minutes to challenge you to make the most of this opportunity, to affirm why you made such a good choice in coming to Susquehanna, and to ask you to make some commitments to your new community.

Statistically, many of you chose to attend Susquehanna because we had a major that you believe equates with a job you think you want right now, or at least you did 6 months ago. For many of you, that will change, and that’s a good thing. We will help you to develop your sense of vocation — what can you do that will be most personally rewarding? What will bring you the most meaning?

Many of you chose Susquehanna because you believe you can develop the skills and knowledge to be successful in professional life. That is a fundamental strength of this university, but we will also help you to cultivate broader skills and perspectives.

And, most of you chose Susquehanna because we made it financially possible for you to be here. We were founded to provide an education to meritorious students many of whose families could not afford a 19^th-century college degree. Today, we are all able to be here because of extraordinary philanthropic generosity that has created this beautiful campus, expanded our offerings, and has continued to grow scholarship support over the past 166 years.

Many of those gifts came from individuals who would never meet you, but who believed deeply in the promise that you would bring to this great university. It is important to acknowledge that selfless generosity and to be thankful.

I challenge each of you to make the most of this remarkable opportunity and their laudable investment.

First, a message of assurance to the parents and families of our new students. Contrary to what you often see and hear in the media about the value of a college education, according to the Georgetown University Center for Educational Statistics, the return on investment of a college degree has never been greater than it is this year. I repeat, the financial advantage of a college degree has never been greater than it is this year. That same study places Susquehanna’s graduates among the top 11% of all colleges and universities in the United States for lifetime earnings.

That should give you comfort, but it should not be the most important reason you are here.

Students, we are here, faculty, staff, and trustees to help you to become the best citizens, best neighbors, and best people you can become. We are here to help you to develop and expand your personal philosophy, to affirm those things that are most important to you, and to give you the tools to pursue them and to advocate for them. We are here to help you to chart a course that will lead you to your best life.

To help us to do that, you need to commit to practicing the habits that will make those lofty goals a reality.

First, good citizenship includes active participation in our democracy. If you haven’t registered to vote, we will help you, and we will help you get to the polls. Our Achieve, Lead, Vote initiative made Susquehanna the most improved higher education institution in Pennsylvania for participation in the 2020 election. This year, let’s all commit to surpassing that achievement.

Being good neighbors takes work and courage. We are living in a time of geopolitical upheavals and rampant incivility. We see ideologies and righteous passions quickly turn into self-righteous disruptions on sister campuses across the nation, we must continue to do better.

We are also witnessing systematic attacks on institutional efforts to create and sustain diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities. As a university, we are committed to maintaining a campus where all members of our community can flourish.

Civility, respect, and belonging are interdependent. A credal document for the Susquehanna community is our Statement on Ethical and Inclusive Living. It opens with these paragraphs.

Susquehanna University is an institution of higher education that brings learners of different backgrounds, experiences, and talents into dialogue as they pursue knowledge and wisdom together. We commit to maintaining and fostering a safe and welcoming campus environment that aids us all in the process of lifelong learning and the cultivation of good character. As Susquehanna continues its quest to embody the rich diversity of the human community, we are committed to the full participation of all persons representing the breadth of human differences.

With a long-standing ethos of collaboration, our community focuses on the development of cross-cultural relationships marked by mutual curiosity, cooperation, and respect. To that end, we must actively seek to identify and reject systemic and individual biases against individuals based on race, ethnicity, national or geographic origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, social class, age, religion, political affiliation, and marital or parental status. Each individual’s identity is intersectional, deriving varying degrees of advantages and/or limitations from the experiences that frame our lives.

Our community relies upon teaching and advising practices and professional behaviors that promote critical engagement with diversity that seek to understand how the differences among us affect our lived experiences, the beliefs that emerge from and frame those experiences, and the impact of power and privilege on our lives. We hold up our differences as a vital asset to our success as an academic community. We pursue justice and reject injustice in all forms. This is essential for effective teaching and learning, equitable governance and decision-making, and healthy community life.

I encourage you all to read the statement in its entirety.

These commitments will help us to grow as a community and as individuals, and they will equip us to become that ideal city on the hill of which Walt Whitman dreamed when he wrote:

I DREAM’D in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the

attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth;

I dream’d that was the new City of Friends;

Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love—it led the rest;

It was seen every hour in the actions…of that city,

And in all their looks and words.[1]

This is what we are called to do. This is our one voice, our vocare. This is what it means to be better.

We must be an example for our neighbors. This is what it means to achieve, lead, and serve. This is what it means to be Susquehannans.

At the laying of the cornerstone of Selinsgrove Hall in 1858, which was the founding of this great university, Joseph Casey stated, “Education, in its legitimate sense, includes not only the cultivation of the mental powers, but the proper training and development of the moral sentiments and faculties, and its true object is to ‘make us not only wiser but better…’”[2]

Today, I invite you to your graduation on May 20^th 2028. Each year, I give this charge to the graduates. Today, I challenge you to commit to doing all you can during your time at Susquehanna to meet this charge to your fullest.

Achieve all you can for good,

Lead with honor and humility,

Serve with love and pride,

And always strive to be not only wiser, but better.

Welcome home!

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[1] Whitman, Walt: from Calamus, 1860.

[2] Joseph Casey, Esq.: “Remarks delivered at the laying of the corner-stone of the Missionary Institute at Selin’s Grove, PA, September 1, 1858.”