Washington College’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa is pleased to announce that Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan University, will deliver the PBK address “Why Liberal Education Matters” on Feb. 3. The event in Hynson Lounge at 4:30 p.m. is free and open to the campus and Chestertown community.
Known as an historian, curator, and author, Roth, a 1978 Wesleyan graduate, became its president in 2007. A regular contributor of essays, book reviews, and commentaries in the national media and scholarly journals, his most recent book, Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, is a stirring plea for the kind of education that has, since the nation’s founding, cultivated individual freedom, promulgated civic virtue, and instilled hope for the future. His call for a “pragmatic liberal education” is the cornerstone of both his leadership at Wesleyan and as part of the national conversation on the role of the liberal arts in higher education.
Roth joined Wesleyan after having served as Hartley Burr Alexander Professor of Humanities at Scripps College, Associate Director of the Getty Research Institute, and President of the California College of the Arts. At Wesleyan, he has increased grant support for students who receive financial aid and has overseen the launch of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, the Shapiro Creative Writing Center, and four new colleges emphasizing interdisciplinary research. He continues to teach undergraduate courses and through Coursera has offered MOOCs, the most recent being “How to Change the World.”
Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is oldest and most prestigious academic honor society in the country. Washington College’s chapter, Theta of Maryland, was established in 2007 and is one of only 283 across the country. More than 240 WC students, representing the highest in the College’s academic distinction, have been inducted into membership.
John McCarron says
Mr. Roth has also pursued a campaign to disenfranchise the Wesleyan chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon in an effort to capture its real property which sits in the center of academic row. Wesleyan has coveted this property for more than 50 years without success, and Mr. Roth has prohibited continued occupancy and cut off cash flow to force the chapter to its knees. Ask him how this fits in with a liberal education.