In the News: Bill Coplin

Bill Coplin, professor of policy studies, has written “The Path to Equity: Inclusion in the Kingdom of Liberal Arts” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023). In the book, Coplin argues that the approach to liberal arts education that prioritizes academic scholarship and learning for its own sake does not fully equip students with the practical, career-oriented skills for which many people enter college. 

Bill Coplin, professor of policy studies, says he has been saving students from the damage done by the “bait-and-switch business model of the liberal arts programs” for fifty years. 

Colleagues and alumni came together recently to mark the 45th anniversary of the undergraduate program and its founder, Professor Bill Coplin.

The drive to fund a new scholarship reminds us there is an alumni community bound in the ways of Bill Coplin.

The Truman award has become the premier graduate scholarship for aspiring public service leaders in the United States. The scholarship seeks to fund students who possess the leadership skills, intellect and passion that will make them “change agents” for the public good in any field. 

At first glance, the new major in citizenship and civic engagement would seem to share a lot with another Maxwell major, policy studies. Both are interdisciplinary, nurture informed citizens, and emphasize action. But the similarities end there.

"We don't want to press our interests in citizenship upon the students," says Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology, who will be teaching the new MAX course on research methods and civic engagement. "We want them to develop it themselves. We're there as mentors. So it shouldn't be that we give them the Action Plan and they fill it in. It should be initiated by the student's desire to engage with a particular social problem."