Chris Myers Asch, the Executive Director of the U.S. Public Service Academy, traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, to participate in the Clinton School of Public Service’s Distinguished Speaker Series. More than 60 students, faculty and community members were in attendance and the response was both enthusiastic and supportive! Following Asch’s presentation, audience members peppered him with more than thirty minutes of questions. The questions asked displayed an eagerness by the participants to learn more about what the Academy has to offer our country — they also wanted to know how they could help get the Arkansas congressional delegation to support the Academy bill. It is clear judging by the Q&A and the number of participants that stayed after to discuss details with Asch that we can be sure the Academy has 60 brand new supporters!

The positive response from Clinton School students, faculty, and community members further supports the argument that young people soon to enter public service and those already serving want to see a public service academy established. This also further supports our poll in which shows 77% of Millennials supported the establishment of a U.S. Public Service Academy. It’s time we gave the young people of this country what they are asking for!

Two U.S. Public Service Academy interns had the opportunity to attend a recent debate between two Millennial generation experts that asked, Are the Millennials the dumbest or the next great generation?

Mark Bauerlein, author of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future debated Neil Howe, author of Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. The statistics were dizzying and leaned both in favor and against the Millennial generation, those born between the years 1982 and 2000. Such statistics included were that Millennials spend less than one hour a week reading for pleasure and spend over 9 hours a week on social networking websites. One study shared was a group of high school seniors were asked the following question– “Who were America’s allies in World War II?” Fifty percent surveyed answered at least one of the following– Germany, Japan, and Italy. 

While there were also studies, statistics, and arguments that were laid out in defense of the quality of knowledge and skills of Millennials, one cannot deny that America’s youth are in jeopardy of spiraling away from substantive activities and ultimately, career paths that will improve the capacity of America to rule. The U.S. Public Service Academy would be an inspiration to America’s youth and offer them a goal to reach for throughout their adolescence, regardless of economic background. America’s youth are special and the U.S. Public Service Academy would give them the specialized education they desire and graduate highly specialized public servants that America deserves. 

For decades now, the American people have complained about “big government” and called for deregulation and fewer taxes. Following the financial bailouts of the last week, it is obvious that having your cake and eating it too indeed is not a good strategy. Now that many of our financial institutions are either propped up by the government or outright owned by them, it is apparent that reasonable regulation is crucial and a corps of public servants with high ethical standards are desperately needed. We simply cannot leave the running of our financial market to Wall Street tycoons looking to profit from the ordinary American citizen. What we need are public servants who are trained to put forth and enforce sound policies and regulations, while upholding the highest of ethical standards and a belief in serving American citizens on Main Street. The U.S. Public Service Academy will train and prepare such individuals. Now more than ever, we must rally our support behind the Academy and graduate the first class of leaders in 2015!