The University: Pillar Of Democracy
 BY Mohammed Ashraf Aziz
 Howard University
 
Viewed in hindsight, the American Revolution  appears to have been an exceptional event which involved an actual break with history: the Declaration of Independence was a quantum event. From this declaration, a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” was established to “form a more perfect union.”  For the first time government was created with a Bill of Rights for the citizenry; a government with a written Constitution, process and laws rather than of persons.

The realization of the ideals expressed in Declaration of Independence,  Constitution, and Bill of Rights can only be achieved through the structure and operations of society’s  institutions.  This includes the most enlightened of institutions: our colleges and universities.

More than preparation for careers/professions, the function of all educational  institutions--especially institutions of higher learning-- is to prepare Americans for responsible citizenship. To critique society is amongst the higher callings of American universities. One teaches by example. Instruction in democratic principles is undercut if the university/college denies academic freedom.  Even if given absolute power by the trustees, university presidents should share governance and seek the advice and consent of the representatives elected by the citizens of the institution, i.e., faculty, staff and students.  To deny due process
by running a university along autocratic, totalitarian lines is to invalidate the institutional basis of democracy in America.

In the final analysis genuine American education is education in democratic, human values.  Just as a biological human can only be gotten from another human being, democratic, human values can only be bred and fully developed in the womb of institutions practicing such actions and behaviors.

Within the 12-mile square of the District of Columbia, we have the most intense concentration of all those living institutions in which democracy in America is actualized.  The National Archives contains all those documents which form the basis of an open society.  The architecture of all monuments, their layout,--especially the openness of the Mall--all symbolize American democracy. Being within the heart and soul of democracy, one must examine the colleges and universities in the Capitol to determine the degree to which they advance the ideals of our national heritage.

Any institution of higher learning, which  denies shared governance, due process and academic freedom to its citizens insults what the United States was, is, will, and should be.