Preparing Students to Lead, Serve, and Strengthen Democracy

July 2026

As we continue marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this month, we’re reminded that preparing informed and engaged citizens is one of the most important responsibilities of public higher education.

Democracy is something each generation has to examine and strengthen. I believe public universities have an essential role in that work, especially through civic education and by giving students opportunities to understand complex issues, engage across differences, and contribute to their communities.

Since joining Rutgers University–New Brunswick, I’ve been struck by the many ways our community brings that responsibility to life. We prepare students for successful careers, while also helping students develop the judgment, curiosity, and sense of responsibility needed to participate fully in public life.

One important example is the Eagleton Institute of Politics, the nation’s oldest university-based institute of politics. For more than 70 years, Eagleton has connected scholarship with public life through research, civic education, public policy, and leadership development. Its Rutgers Democracy Lab builds on that legacy by creating opportunities for students and faculty to study democracy and put their ideas into practice.

Professors Nicholas Longo, director of the Rutgers Democracy Lab, and Elizabeth Matto, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics, make this case in their recent opinion piece, “The Forgotten Lesson from 1776.” Their argument is both timely and important: every generation has a role in sustaining democracy, and universities help prepare students for that responsibility through civic learning.

At Rutgers–New Brunswick, students are already doing this work. Through the Democracy Lab’s Think & Do Tank, students make a yearlong commitment to studying public challenges, developing community organizing skills, and working toward practical solutions. One of the student groups in last year’s program examined equity and transportation barriers that can prevent students from reaching internships. They organized around the issue and explored ways public funding could help make those opportunities more accessible.

This is civic education in action. Students study a real problem, learn from one another, and work toward a practical solution.

Earlier this summer, the Rutgers Democracy Lab also launched its inaugural Democracy Summer Research Fellowships, supporting doctoral students from across Rutgers, including 21 Rutgers–New Brunswick graduate students. Their research explores topics such as productive dialogue across differences, democratic innovation, and artificial intelligence.

These fellowships give emerging scholars the time and support to pursue questions that matter to public life. They also reflect something I value deeply about Rutgers: our willingness to bring different disciplines and perspectives together to solve difficult challenges.

That work will continue this fall, when first-year students will explore the nation’s 250th anniversary through eight small, discussion-based seminars led by Rutgers faculty. The seminars draw from disciplines including the arts and politics, giving students a chance to explore how democracy has shaped our history and how it continues to impact the choices we face today.

A student studying music, politics, history, or another field may approach those questions differently. That range of perspectives is a strength. Democracy depends on people who can recognize that complex problems rarely belong to only one point of view.

For me, this is the larger promise of a great public university. We create knowledge and help students understand how to use it responsibly. We prepare them to contribute in their chosen fields, participate in their communities, and take responsibility for the world around them.

I’m grateful to Professors Nicholas Longo and Elizabeth Matto for advancing this important conversation and for the leadership of the Eagleton Institute of Politics and the Rutgers Democracy Lab in bringing this work to life.

As we continue to mark this milestone in our nation’s history, I feel hopeful about what comes next. Democracy will always require participation. At Rutgers–New Brunswick, we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to help prepare students to take part in that work.

Read the full opinion piece by Professors Nicholas Longo and Elizabeth Matto: The Forgotten Lesson from 1776 That Could Rescue Democracy in 2026 (NJ.com)