A Proposal to Launch the Country's First Public Service Academy

On March 26th, 2008, the UCCP, together with the Department of Political Science and the College of Liberal Arts, hosted a talk by Dr. Chris Myers Asch on his proposal to launch the country's first Public Service Academy. The Academy is a national initiative to build a civilian counterpart to the military service academies. The proposed Academy, which will offer four years of tuition free education in exchange for five years of civilian service following graduation, has the support of more than 110 members of Congress and has been highlighted by Time Magazine as one of the top ten ideas the next president should embrace to reinvigorate civic life. Over 40 Temple students, faculty, UCCP staff and VOICES internship participants attended the talk, raising some key questions about the nature of the proposed Academy, its recruitment strategy, its location, its ability to change public service and the like. Overall, it was a very lively and thought provoking discussion.