Governor Bill Lee is planning to create a civics institute at the University of Tennessee in the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy. Lee made the announcement in the 2022 State of the State address Monday night, saying it would be called the “Institute of American Civics.”
The announcement of the institute comes with Lee’s proposal of the state’s most substantial budget yet during the address. The total budget sits at $52.5 billion.
Lee is asking for $1 billion to be allotted to both K-12 and higher education. He proposed $6 million to go toward the new civics institute. After the initial $6 million, the institute will cost $4 million in taxpayer dollars each year.
The project is still in the beginning stages, so many details are unknown. What Lee has said, however, is that it will educate students on American civics and instill patriotism at the university.
“Informed patriotism should stretch beyond K-12 and into higher education,” Lee said in the address. “In many states, colleges and universities have become centers of anti-American thought, leaving students not only ill-equipped but confused. But in Tennessee, there is no reason why our institutions of higher learning can be an exceptional part of America at its best.”
In addition to the civics institute, Lee announced a formalized partnership with Hillsdale College, in order to bring the school’s philosophy on civics education to Tennessee.
Hillsdale College is a conservative Christian college in Michigan that does not accept federal funds and has become well known for its influential conservative publication “Imprimis,” with a circulation of millions, and online courses which provide introductions to biblical stories and civic religion.
“Two years ago I traveled to Hillsdale College where I participated in a President’s Day celebration and spent time with, what I believe, are champions of American exceptionalism,” Lee said in his address. “For decades, Hillsdale College has been a standard-bearer in quality curriculum and in their responsibility of preserving American liberty.”
Coming to Tennessee’s flagship university, Lee hopes that the forthcoming institute will be an integral center of civics, not just for the state but also for the country.
“This will be a flagship for the nation — a beacon celebrating intellectual diversity at our universities and teaching how a responsible, civic-minded people strengthens our country and our communities,” Lee said.
UT system President Randy Boyd said in an announcement that UT is supportive of the new institute.
“We appreciate Gov. Lee’s support and welcome the opportunity to extend civic knowledge and the foundations of America’s fundamental political and economic institutions,” Boyd said.
In a statement to the Daily Beacon, Chancellor Donde Plowman said the university is waiting for more details.
“We appreciate Governor Lee’s confidence in the university,” Plowman said. “We are excited about this opportunity and are awaiting further details.”
Lee made the announcement as the country faces a political divide when it comes to education, specifically fears over theories that the political right sees as anti-American, especially the teaching of critical race theory.
According to Knox News, Lee criticized a recent University of Memphis grant dedicated to social justice programming because of its use of tax dollars and “radical and divisive agenda.” The University of Memphis canceled the grant soon after.
Despite reports from The College Fix, a conservative news outlet, that UT’s Division for Diversity and Engagement had plans to create a critical race theory center, UT Director of News and Information Tyra Haag said in a statement to Knox News that this is not happening.
Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly attributed a quote from Chancellor Donde Plowman to UT Director of News and Information Tyra Haag.
