- About the Declaration
- Read the Declaration
- Signatories / Sign the Declaration
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About the Declaration:
The Presidents’ Declaration was drafted in 1999 by:
- Thomas Ehrlich, senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and president emeritus of Indiana University, and
- Elizabeth Hollander, executive director of Campus Compact,
- with input from a distinguished Presidents’ Leadership Colloquium Committee composed of:
- Derek Bok, president emeritus of Harvard University;
- Dolores Cross, president of Morris Brown College;
- John DiBiaggio, president of Tufts University;
- Claire Gaudiani, president of Connecticut College;
- Stanley Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education;
- Donald Kennedy, president emeritus of Stanford University;
- Charles Knapp, past president of the Aspen Institute;
- Edward A. Malloy, president of the University of Notre Dame;
- Frank Newman, president of the Education Commission of the States;
- and Eduardo Padrón, president of Miami-Dade Community College.
The purpose of this statement is to articulate the commitment of all sectors of higher education — public and private, two- and four-year — to their civic purposes. The statement was reviewed, refined, and endorsed at a Presidents’ Leadership Colloquium convened by Campus Compact and the American Council on Education in July 1999.
We are deeply indebted to the drafters of the Wingspread Declaration on Renewing the Civic Mission of the American Research University, crafted by Harry Boyte of the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota and Elizabeth Hollander, with the commentary of a distinguished group of scholars, administrators, and others. Many ideas and some of the language have been used here, with the authors’ permission.
Where do we go from here?
To date, 565 college and university presidents from every sector — public and private, large and small, two- and four-year — have endorsed the Declaration. You can add your campus to the list of signatories by emailing Campus Compact President Maureen F. Curley.
We urge all readers to use this document to encourage dialogue on your campus among admininstrators, faculty, staff, and students.
I consider Campus Compact to be one of the most enlightened and farsighted ventures that American colleges and universities have undertaken in recent years. It provides evidence that there are, in the world of higher education, people more than willing to pitch in, people of vision and commitment. John Gardner, former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare and former president of the Carnegie Corporation
