Turning tables, Centre College awards Glotzbach an honorary degree

In his 11 years as Skidmore’s president, President Philip A. Glotzbach has bestowed honorary degrees on dozens of worthy recipients. This week, Centre College of Danville, Ky., turned the tables, awarding Glotzbach an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Glotzbach was presented for the degree by his good friend and high school classmate Daniel G. Stroup, professor of politics and law at Centre. Reading the citation, Centre President John A. Roush praised Glotzbach’s "lifelong and enthusiastic support of liberal learning” and his efforts to "transform Skidmore College into a place of true distinction, exemplifying the finest characteristics of scholarship, leadership and vision."

Delivering the college’s Founder’s Day address, Glotzbach focused on the increasingly polarized nature of political life—"ideology-rich but data-free" public discourse—as a problem that liberal arts colleges can help the nation squarely address.

“We can be more intentional, and more creative, in preparing ... graduates to function as informed, responsible members of a democratic society,” he said, pointing out that in spite of their relatively small numbers, liberal arts colleges disproportionately achieve leadership positions in business, leading professions and government.

"How can we best teach our students to appreciate the range of beliefs represented across our nation and the world and to deal constructively with those differences?" he asked. "How can we help them develop the intellectual resilience needed to deal with a society that affords rights to free speech but not the right of never being offended by the speech of others?"

"We need to attend particularly to the project of helping our students to become adept at talking with, understanding and working effectively with those who look at the world differently from them," he continued. "Perhaps the most powerful way to accomplish this goal is to forge personal relationships—with friendship as the high bid—that bridge what initially appeared as insurmountable differences." 

Ultimately, Glotzbach said, "we need to recapture and own the idea that in teaching and learning we together inhabit a privileged and sacred space in which we reason together about the most important public goods that represent the ultimate goals of education, with justice and truth being high on that list. And we must constantly challenge one another to do what we can to see that justice and truth do indeed prevail within our democratic republic." [Find the full text of his remarks here.]

Skidmore’s president since 2003, Glotzbach has presided over a remarkable era in the institution’s history. The College has introduced new academic programs, enhanced the strength and diversity of the student body, launched initiatives to better position graduates for their careers, and transformed the campus with renovations, new buildings and upgraded athletic fields. The College also has fortified its operations and finances and doubled its endowment, thanks in great part to the successful completion of the largest fundraising campaign in its history.

A member of the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Glotzbach served for 10 years on the executive committee of the Annapolis Group, a consortium of 130 leading national liberal arts colleges.