Head of the class

Washington Monthly, Dec, 2005 by Maegan M. Ashworth, John Churchill

I am thrilled to see The Washington Monthly provide information on colleges and universities that citizens can use to keep track of how well these institutions serve our country ("The Washington Monthly College Guide" by The Editors, September). There are, however, a few points I would like to see included in future rankings.

First, the Peace Corps and the military are not the only two forms of national service for which data is likely to be available. AmeriCorps and Teach for America applicants certainly indicate which institutions they graduated from. I would hypothesize that graduates who go on to the Peace Corps tend to come from more well-to-do families in the first place, whereas those from low-income and immigrant families might choose forms of service closer to home. Whether this is true or not, I would love to see these commitments recognized in your rankings.

Second, as a Ph.D. student in the natural sciences, I appreciate the implication that students following my career path are providing a form of national service. I would, however, love to see graduates in professions of service (social work, nursing, etc.) or scholars in the social sciences counted as assets to our nation. Perhaps these do not fit in the "economic growth" area, but instead in the service category, or as an indication of the degree to which universities are training critical thinkers and informing public policy debates (admittedly, some of the latter would be captured by finding the institutions that civil servants graduated from, as mentioned in the article itself).

Again, thank you for this refreshing way of looking at our nation's institutions of higher education.

Maegan M. Ashworth

Medical Scientist Training Program Trainee, University of Washington

"The Washington Monthly College Guide's" criteria concerning what America needs from higher education--social mobility, advancement of knowledge and economic growth, and an ethic of service--are laudable but incomplete. What America needs most from colleges and universities is a citizenry capable of conducting a participatory democracy.

We might suppose that democracy is about counting votes. But democracy is also about deliberation, the shared inquiry into what is best to do. The evidence for this is that all political persuasions appeal to the notion that citizens are trying to figure out how to do the right thing.

Learning to deliberate requires: 1) critical thought in making and evaluating arguments, 2) knowledge that can provide reasons in arguments, and 3) discernment of what is worth deliberating about.

This aim is embraced by colleges and universities in the tradition of the liberal arts. So, if we want a democracy in which citizens are equipped to withstand manipulation, and in which the connection between truth and freedom is always clear, we will judge our colleges and universities according to their success in providing deliberative abilities to their graduates.

How do you measure that? First, ask whether the institution understands itself as a producer of well-equipped citizens. Second, ask whether the curriculum encourages broad studies relevant to serious issues. Third, ask whether the learning process engages students actively, rather than treating them like passive units of absorption. Do students take responsibility for their own learning, cultivating the habits of deliberation?

Phi Beta Kappas presence at colleges or universities is a strong indicator of these aims and practices, and a sign that the institution is supplying America with citizens who can deliberate.

John Churchill

Secretary, The Phi Beta Kappa Society