Lee University’s Center for Responsible Citizenship (CRC) recently hosted its ninth annual Civic Virtue and Thought Symposium. The symposium brought Lee students, faculty, alumni, and members of the broader community together for two days to participate in stimulating conversation on the year’s theme, “American Identity.” 

“The goal of the symposium was to, as a community, think through what it means to be ‘American’ and how our experience of citizenship can be mediated by our diverse backgrounds,” said Audrey Haley, the CRC’s program coordinator and Lee alumna. “We wanted to thoughtfully consider how race in particular informs American citizenship.” 

The event included several small-group discussion seminars and a guest keynote lecture on Friday evening. Readings included the 1965 debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr., selections from Baldwin’s “Letter from a Region in My Mind,” Frederick Douglass, Mary Antin, Theodore Roosevelt, and Martin Luther King Jr. 

“The symposium was a really fun experience, full of great discussions,” said Kaitlyn Stoker, a junior political science major at Lee University. “I particularly enjoyed reading the Buckley-Baldwin debate and getting to discuss that reading with others.” 

This year, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, presented the keynote lecture. He discussed James Baldwin’s philosophy of love and patriotism, highlighting Baldwin’s radical empathy and bold confrontation reflected in his novels and writings. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed the symposium and its topic,” said Jeremy Draper, a political science major at Lee. “It was a fruitful conversation about real issues being addressed from multiple lenses. It really does help a person understand how to be a better person and citizen in the context of the world around them and for these reasons wholly encapsulates the purpose of the undergraduate experience.” 

The Symposium on “American Identity” was just one of the many opportunities the CRC offers throughout the academic year. Through its events and weekly meetings, the CRC hopes to facilitate, equip, and encourage students to think critically. In a time fraught with conflict and confusion about Christian engagement in the world, it is a place for all to discuss and learn the foundational necessity for moral and civic virtue in political life. 

The CRC thanks Lee University, its alumni, the Jack Miller Center, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, the Institute for Humane Studies, and members of the broader Cleveland community, for their continued support. Their generous contributions make CRC programming possible. 

For more information about the CRC, or to partner with its activities, visit leeucrc.com or contact [email protected].