SDI Productions/E+/Getty Images

Student voting offers a special test and opportunity for American institutions of higher education, which are in the midst of an authoritarian assault not seen since the McCarthy era. Since before the Revolution, American leaders have celebrated the link between higher education, service to the nation and democracy. In 1947, the Truman Commission declared that “The first and most essential charge upon higher education is that at all its levels and in all its fields of specialization it shall be the carrier of democratic values, ideals and processes.”

Numerous American colleges and universities invoke a form of civic purpose in their mission statements. Harvard College seeks to “educate the citizens and citizen-leaders for our society.” Princeton Unive

See Full Page