On Oct. 7-8, Lee University’s Center for Responsible Citizenship (CRC) hosted its 7th annual “Symposium on Civic Virtue and Thought.” Following its theme, “Institutions & Inheritance,” participants explored the role of tradition and institutions in framing political desires and discourse. 

These contributors included students and faculty from Lee and regional colleges, as well as alumni and members of the Cleveland community. “Attendees met on Lee’s campus to discuss our contemporary skepticism of political institutions and our tendency to disregard the traditions that run contrary to our desires,” said Dr. Thomas Pope, professor of political science at Lee. 

Conversations were based on readings ranging from Alexis de Tocqueville to Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. Each author grappled with the tension between justice and law, as well as how society can better reconcile the two. 

The Symposium involved five discussion seminars and a public keynote by Dr. Diana Schaub,professor of political science at Loyola University. Schaub recently published a book on three speeches by Abraham Lincoln, “His Greatest Speeches: How Lincoln Moved the Nation,” that address the challenge of reconnecting Constitutional institutions with the American spirit. Her talk highlighted the role of rhetoric in Lincoln’s “Lyceum Address” and the abiding importance of framing our laws within the context of our deepest values. 

“Each symposium with the CRC is a blast as we navigate all kinds of problems and ideas.” said Aniela Suit, a public relations major at Lee. “This year’s symposium has me thinking almost daily about how my mindset toward people, my community, and my country influences me. To talk about Lincoln, Tocqueville, and MLK in the context of the American Founding has helped me understand how our society has developed to where it is now.”  

Lee’s Center for Responsible Citizenship hosts interdisciplinary reading groups, lectures, workshops, and symposia to cultivate conversation about what the elements of a healthy community really are. “These conversations are essential in a time where political life is so frequently lacking patience, deliberation, and charity,” said Pope. “The CRC recasts political life as a framework of dialogue, mores, and institutions that help us understand what it means to pursue the good life, together.” 

For more information about the Center for Responsible Citizenship, or to learn how you can support its programming, please email [email protected].