Colgate University President Brian W. Casey has joined College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, a consortium of more than 100 college presidents committed to higher education’s role in preparing students to be well-informed and productively engaged citizens.
Consortium members encourage students across the United States to uphold free expression, civil discourse, and critical inquiry as essential civic and academic norms. They also increase thoughtful engagement and better understanding among their own students — all to ensure the effective functioning of American democracy.
Like his fellow presidents, Casey subscribes to the consortium’s shared civic commitments:
- Educating for democracy is central to the mission of higher education.
- Participating universities will prepare their students for a vibrant, diverse, and contentious society.
- Participating universities will protect and defend free inquiry.
Taken together, these commitments embrace both free speech and diversity by emphasizing inquiry and meaningful engagement with different voices and viewpoints. The commitments stress diversity as a strength of both American democracy and campus life and affirm the truth-seeking role of higher education through curiosity and inquiry. They also encourage campus leaders to take substantive action to promote democratic engagement among students, with public accountability for progress through publication of an annual report.
Casey’s office is already developing and supporting efforts that advance consortium commitments, including Colgate’s 2024–25 Presidential Speakers Series; the Colgate Vote Project; and a working group to map the University’s principles on freedom of expression to the institution’s policies and handbooks.
“I look forward to the collaboration and creativity that this consortium can bring to Colgate’s own efforts as we advance freedom of expression and diversity of thought on campus,” Casey says.
College Presidents for Civic Preparedness has been supported by ECMC Foundation, Einhorn Collaborative, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, One8 Foundation, Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Lumina Foundation, Charles Koch Foundation, and Teagle Foundation, with individual campuses providing support for their own related projects.