The goal of the School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is to encourage its students to engage in civilized public debate and, in the words of Dean Jed Atkins, “learn to disagree better,” despite a national culture increasingly marked by ideological division and censorship.
“SCiLL prepares students for civic and civil society responsibilities by fostering a culture of free expression and providing an education grounded in encouraging the human search for meaning and developing the capacity for civil discourse and wise decision-making,” said Atkins, who previously headed a similar program at Duke University, according to the school’s website.
Their focus appears to be shifting away from schools, reinforcing a growing concern that colleges and universities are becoming less open to the free exchange of ideas.
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A photo of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Eros Hoagland/Getty Images)
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board hailed SCiLL as a “new ray of hope for traditional liberal thought” in an article published Tuesday, adding that its existence was a “victory over the progressive monolith that had tried to prevent it.”
When the school’s founding was announced last year, UNC faculty members expressed their resentment at the Board of Trustees’ decision to “accelerate” its founding.
A faculty member quoted in the university newspaper The Daily Tar Heel said he was “surprised” when he learned of the decision at the time.
Another was “stunned,” and several faculty members argued that they should have been asked for their opinion.
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David Boliek, then-chair of UNC’s Board of Trustees, spoke to “Fox & Friends” about the school’s launch in January 2023, saying there was “no shortage of faculty with progressive, left-wing views (at UNC), as there is at many other campuses across the country.”
“The same really can’t be said for right-of-center views,” he added. “So we’re trying to remedy that here with the School of Civic Life and Leadership by creating the opportunity to teach both views at the university.”
The WSJ article quoted current UNC Board of Trustees Chairman John Preyer as saying he hopes the experimental program “can become the national model for what academic freedom can do for higher education and change the entire landscape.”
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Campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Eros Hoagland/Getty Images)
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According to a course outline on the SCiLL website, there will be courses in philosophy, politics, history, political science and more.
According to the Wall Street Journal, topics of study will include the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Federalist Papers and the philosophies of rhetoricians such as Aristotle and Montesquieu.
