President Carter, Johns Hopkins University president discuss citizenship in higher education at campus intellectual diversity center’s first public event; center director sheds light on curriculum

Ohio State President Ted Carter and Johns Hopkins President Ronald J. Daniels shake hands before the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society’s inaugural event, “Conversation with the Presidents.” Credit: Emma Wozniak | Editor-in-Chief

Ohio State President Ted Carter Jr. and Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels discussed the role of higher education institutions in shaping engaged citizens during a Tuesday panel moderated by Lee Strang, the executive director of Ohio State’s intellectual diversity center.

Titled “Conversation with the Presidents, Citizenship Education at America’s Leading Research Universities,” the panel, which was attended by roughly 100, was the inaugural public event for the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society — a center created in 2023 by Senate Bill 117 to host programs, classes and events for the promotion of student speech and combating of “leftist bias on campus,” per prior Lantern reporting. 

In a conversation with The Lantern after the event, Strang confirmed the center’s first official class will be “American Civic Tradition,” which he said is difficult to “characterize in any way politically,” especially since the course’s faculty instructors come from various different disciplines and, based on his perceptions of their published work, distinct political perspectives. Strang said he could not comment on other aspects of the center’s curriculum at this time.

Strang also challenged criticisms that the center is motivated by a conservative agenda or one-sided in its citizenship education, but encouraged individuals who are skeptical of it to “wait and see how the Chase Center operates.”

The hour-long event, which took place in the Ohio Union’s U.S. Bank Conference Theater, was interrupted roughly halfway through when an event attendee stood up from his seat, identified himself as a student and member of Ohio Youth for Climate Justice and asked Carter to join the group’s protest, which was taking place on the South Oval at the same time, per prior Lantern reporting.

“I would just like to respectfully request that as we’re talking about citizenship education, that you join us outside,” the student said. “We want you to join us at the table. We want to talk to you.”

Another attendee sitting next to the original protestor then stood and joined in, asking Carter to speak with the protestors outside and urging him to “please make the right choice.” Strang asked present staff members to remove the individuals due to their intentional disruption, and the two protestors were escorted out of the theater without physical force.

In his conversation with The Lantern, Strang said he was unsurprised by the student protest and even expected the interruption, using it as an opportunity to “model [the] civility” that Carter and Daniels discussed during the panel.

“It was a temporary interruption, but I think that was a juxtaposition about the culture that the Chase Center is trying to build, which is, we’re going to have different — that’s what pluralism is — we’re going to have different viewpoints on important issues that we’re passionate about, and there are really productive ways to express them, and then there are less productive ways. So, not surprised, it’s a university, but I think the Chase Center is trying to create an alternative way of engaging people with differences.”

The event began with Strang discussing the Chase Center, whose first classes will be taught in the fall semester by scholars from high-ranking academic institutions across the globe, he said. Strang also announced the center has recently received an endorsement from the Stanton Foundation, a private group that advocates for informed citizens and the protection of First Amendment rights, according to its website.

Throughout the moderated discussion, Strang asked Carter and Daniels questions about the role of research universities in the United States, university-level citizenship education, how universities can promote the future of democracy and more.

Both presidents emphasized the importance of the relationship between research universities and the federal government, with Daniels praising the innovation and opportunities that have resulted from this connection while also acknowledging its instability. 

“We’re seeing it’s more fragile than any of us ever realized, and it’s something that, of course, we worry about in this moment,” Daniels said.

Carter agreed, adding that Ohio State’s research programs are “a little bit under attack,” and research institutions like Ohio State and Johns Hopkins must better communicate their vital federal relationships to accurately showcase their nationwide impact.

“As a public, we are beholden to those dollars for us to be able to do this work for the nation,” Carter said. “The United States has a gift for the future and the current work of research — we’re the best in the world at it, and every nation in the world knows it. That didn’t used to be true, but as [Daniels] point[s] out, since World War II, we have become the big dogs on the street, and if we’re not careful, we could lose that.”

In the context of citizenship education, Carter said American society is currently experiencing a time of “entitled rage,” referencing extreme political polarization and widespread anger. And yet, he said, this generation of college students wants to be “a force for good.”

“It doesn’t mean that they have to wear a uniform to be a good citizen,” Carter said. “It just means being engaged, being a community leader, maybe running for office, being part of a nonprofit, letting your voice be heard, even raising a family — [it’s] all part of being a good citizen, and our job here is to expose students to every angle of an argument, every angle of a discussion, to let them know that this is an institution that teaches them not what to think but how to think, and those are the precursors for what I think it takes to be a good citizen.”

When the student protestors interrupted and were subsequently escorted out of the event, Carter apologized to attendees for the disturbance, but said “this is the world that we live in.”

“I want you to know how proud I am that students feel comfortable enough to express themselves,” Carter said. “As I said earlier, I wore a uniform for 38 years. I was committed to the Constitution of the United States, and part of that was [the] First Amendment. So, as much as that seems like a disruption, it’s OK, and that’s part of what we do here.”

In reference to civic education programs like those offered by the Chase Center, Daniels said universities have an opportunity to change the country’s political trajectory.

“Most people look back at this as among the best years of their life,” Daniels said. “I think that gives us a distinct opportunity to model something better, to be something better than where the country is right now, and do so particularly with [an] enormously complex set of issues, but very diverse populations that straddle different political views, racial, religious backgrounds [and] socioeconomic backgrounds.”

In the conversation’s remaining 10 minutes, Strang guided a Q&A session based on pre-submitted audience questions. Strang asked about Daniels’ book — titled “What Universities Owe Democracy” — making citizenship in higher education relevant to international students and the necessity of global citizenship education.

When speaking with The Lantern, Strang said he felt the event successfully accomplished its two missions: introducing the university community to the concept of citizenship education and modeling civility.

“One can criticize [that] maybe the event didn’t go as smooth as it should have, but one can’t criticize our activities as being polarized or one-sided,” Strang said.

More information about the Chase Center, including specific coursework, can be found on its website.