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American Colleges and Universities Asked to Endorse Declaration on Higher Education and Democratic Culture

August 28, 2006

American college and university presidents are invited to sign on to an international declaration linking citizenship, community service and civic engagement to social change issued by the Council of Europe.

The declaration was developed and adopted during the two-day forum Higher Education and Democratic Culture: Citizenship, Human Rights and Civic Responsibility, sponsored by the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for Higher Education and Research (CDESR) and held June 22-23 in Strasbourg, France. Designed to explore the responsibility of higher education for advancing sustainable democratic culture, the forum was organized in close cooperation with the U.S. Steering Committee of the International Consortium for Higher Education, Civic Responsibility and Democracy, led by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU).

A delegation of 37 U.S. college and university presidents attended the forum under the leadership of Susan Porter Robinson, vice president of Lifelong Learning at ACE; Caryn McTighe Musil, senior vice president of AACU; and Ira Harkavy, director of the Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania. 

The declaration states that “Democracy cannot exist without strong institutions and sound legislation, but it also cannot work without being based on democratic culture. Education and schooling are decisive forces shaping the democratic development of societies; and universities, in turn, are strategic institutions for the democratic development of schooling and societies.” The complete declaration can be viewed at http://dc.ecml.at/.

Campuses around the world are encouraged to review the declaration, complete the requirements and sign on to the document. 

Established in 1949, the Council of Europe defends human rights, parliamentary democracy and the rule of law, develops continent-wide agreements to standardize member countries' social and legal practices, and promotes awareness of a European identity based on shared values and cutting across different cultures. Europe’s oldest political organization, the Council’s membership totals 46 countries, including 21 countries from Central and Eastern Europe.

The new declaration builds on related previous Council of Europe activities such as the pilot project on the University as a Site of Citizenship, organized jointly with a consortium of U.S. higher education organizations with the University of Pennsylvania playing a leading role, and the Council of Europe initiative for the European Year of Citizenship through Education in 2005.