MEADVILLE, Pa. – Nov. 5, 2007 – Today, on the 150th anniversary of the birth of its pioneering investigative journalist, alumna Ida Tarbell, Allegheny College president Richard J. Cook invited institutions of higher education nationwide to join Allegheny in a democracy-strengthening initiative with the goal of ending the practice of holding closed “town hall-style” meetings on college campuses.
In a morning news conference at the college, Cook invited leaders in higher education to join the “Soapbox Alliance,” a coalition of institutions that either have an open campaign-event policy or have pledged to work toward the goal of establishing an open-event policy by September 1, 2008.
“We encourage candidates and campaigns from all political parties to visit college and university campuses to engage students and the public in authentic discussion of the issues.” said Cook. “But we reject the notion of ‘town meetings’ being limited to hand-picked supporters. Campuses should not be used as convenient backdrops for staged events designed to represent something they are not.”
The idea behind the initiative sprang from the dilemma Allegheny College faced during the 2004 election season when it received a request from the Bush-Cheney campaign to rent its gymnasium for a ticketed event, with the campaign organization determining how the tickets would be distributed. At the time, Allegheny’s practice had been to welcome private groups to use its facilities with or without charge, depending on availability and circumstance. As a result, despite the college community’s distaste for the idea of a closed “town meeting,” it found itself without a sound basis to deny the request.
The experience caused members of the college community to look for a way to encourage candidates to visit campus while embracing the ideals of authentic political engagement and debate. Led by Professor Daniel Shea, nationally respected campaign expert and founder of Allegheny’s Center for Political Participation, and in collaboration with his faculty colleagues and the administration, the college adopted a policy that allows campaign organizations to reward supporters with tickets to an event but requires that at least half of the available seats must be made available to the general college community through a non-biased distribution.
The idea of encouraging other colleges to band together in order to strengthen the impact of such policies -- and potentially end the practice of hosting closed campaign events on campuses altogether -- was first described in a perspective piece by Shea that was published in the Chronicle of Higher Education in August 2006.
Formal invitations to join the Soapbox Alliance were mailed today to college and university presidents across the country. In addition, information about the Alliance was sent to others in the higher education community, such as provosts, deans and editors of student newspapers.
A web site, www.soapboxalliance.org, was also launched today to provide information about the Alliance its history, purpose and progress and a vehicle for public discussion of the role of open political debate in America.
Earlier this year, Allegheny College was selected as one of 25 schools nationwide invited to participate in the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Core Commitments program, which explores how higher education can foster engaged citizenship, teach personal and social responsibility, encourage a respect for diversity, cultivate excellence, and implement programs that support community engagement.
Allegheny College is also one of 10 original members of Project Pericles, which, in 2003, challenged colleges and universities to instill in students an abiding and active sense of social responsibility.
