Truman Scholars endorse Public Service Academy

“America was not built on fear,” President Harry S Truman said. “America was built on courage, on imagination, and unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”

From terrorism to rising gas prices, our short-term fears have distracted us from the looming crisis in our public sector. A generation of public servants is about to retire and we simply do not have enough qualified people lined up to take their place. Serious shortages in education, health care, and law enforcement nationwide threaten to dismantle our public sector infrastructure.

But now is not the time for fear. Now is the time for new and bold ideas. Now is the time for a new way to develop future public sector leaders and attract our generation to public service: the U.S. Public Service Academy.

The U.S. Public Service Academy will serve as the civilian counterpart to the uniformed service academies. Students will get a federally subsidized, four-year college education in exchange for five years of mandatory service following graduation. Attracting dedicated and talented individuals, the Academy will require students to serve these five years in public institutions at the local, state, or federal levels.

We believe the academy is an initiative both parties can support. Service is not a partisan issue. Service matters to us all. Youth today are more civicly engaged than ever. Volunteer rates are at historic highs, youth voter participation is on the rise, and applications to service programs such as the Peace Corps, Teach For America, and City Year have skyrocketed. If we want to continue to engage youth at such high rates, we need to demonstrate that the federal government will take the next steps needed in the public service movement.

The prestige and financial opportunities at our nation’s five existing service academies attract the best and brightest youth into uniformed leadership. We must adopt a similar approach to public service, and fund an academy to teach our future superintendents of schools, police chiefs, federal agency heads, and other public leaders.

The Public Service Academy offers a means to harness the growing desire of young people to serve, raise the profile of public service in our country, and increase opportunities for youth to dedicate their lives working for a better country and a better world.

“You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one,” Truman said. “I don’t believe in little plans. I believe in plans big enough to meet a situation, which we can’t possibly foresee now.”

A number of changes are necessary to improve our public sector, but we believe the Public Service Academy stands alone with its potential for transformative change. It is the answer to reinvigorating this country’s dedication to public service. As Truman Scholars, committed to service, we know the value of creating this landmark institution and the time is now.

We the undersigned 2007 Truman Scholars urge you to join us in supporting S. 960/H.R. 1671, the U.S. Public Service Academy Act.

Arthur J. “A.J.” Singletary (Missouri), Adam Harbison (Alabama), Brett Keller (Arkansas), Max Bruner (California), Meghan Desale (California), Kesha Ram (California), Adam Kowalski (Colorado), Joseph O’Shea (Florida), Deep Shaw (Georgia), Kelsey Yamasaki (Hawaii), Eagan Heath (Idaho), JoAnna Smith (Indiana), Jenna Kennedy (Kansas), Scott Moore (Kentucky), Caitlin Whelan (Maine), Marc Peters (Maryland), Salmah Y. Rizvi (Maryland), Ronald Towns (Michigan), Shad White (Mississippi), Sheila Korth (Nebraska), Zachary Kaufman (New Hampshire), Christine Curella (New Jersey), Jon Cardinal (New York), Charlotta Chung (New York), Alia Whitney-Johnson (North Carolina), Indra Sen (North Carolina), Caroline Dennis (Oregon), David Parker (Pennsylvania), Katherine Otto (Rhode Island), Asma Jaber (South Carolina), Paul Moinester (Tennessee), Kenneth Ike (Texas), Lauren Koehler (Texas), Bryson Morgan (Utah), DeCarol A. Davis (Virginia), Mona Singh (Virginia), Andy Cunningham (Vermont), Alula Asfaw (Washington), Nazir Harb (Washington) and Matthew Delligatti (West Virginia).