North Carolina Campus Compact, a network of colleges and universities committed to civic and community engagement, has honored Davidson College President Carol Quillen with the 2018 Leo M. Lambert Engaged Leader Award.
North Carolina Campus Compact, a network of colleges and universities committed to civic and community engagement, has honored Davidson College President Carol Quillen with the 2018 Leo M. Lambert Engaged Leader Award.
Elon University President Leo Lambert helped found the civic engagement network in 2002 and served as its first Executive Board chair.
The Lambert Award is presented each year to one college or university president or chancellor in North Carolina for leadership that fosters student engagement and impacts the community. The honoree is chosen by fellow campus leaders whose institutions are part of the Compact.
Quillen is the seventh president or chancellor to receive the Lambert Award, which was first presented in 2012.
Since 2011 when she became Davidson College’s 18th president, Quillen has championed Davidson’s civic mission and focused on preparing students to lead and innovate in the service of something larger than themselves. Quillen’s support for collaborative research has given Davidson students opportunities to produce new knowledge, whether working with faculty in the classroom or entrepreneurs in the community. A new graduation requirement approved in 2016 has students taking at least one course that explores justice, equality and community. Major gifts from the Duke Endowment are enhancing inclusive pedagogy and interdisciplinary learning.
Quillen grew up in New Castle, Delaware. She earned a bachelor’s degree in American history from the University of Chicago, and received a Ph.D. in European history from Princeton University. She came to Davidson from Rice University, where she served as vice president for international and interdisciplinary initiatives.
The Compact recognized Quillen at its annual Presidents Forum, hosted by Meredith College in Raleigh on Feb. 9. More than 30 presidents and chancellors attended the one-day event, along with other college and university administrators.
The forum included keynote remarks by Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges & Universities, and Matthew Hartley, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania. Attendees took part in a facilitated discussion – led by Meredith College political scientist David McClennan and retired North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr – that examines the role of campuses in fostering free speech and civility.
The 2018 Lambert Engaged Leader Award is sponsored by the Piedmont Service Group. The forum is sponsored in part by Aramark.
North Carolina Campus Compact is a statewide coalition of 37 public, private and community colleges and universities that share a commitment to civic and community engagement. The network was founded in 2002 and is hosted by Elon University. North Carolina Campus Compact is an affiliate of the national Campus Compact organization, which claims 1,000 member schools representing nearly 2 million college students.