August 14, 2019

William Jewell College and American Public Square are proud to announce a new partnership meant to enrich civic engagement in Kansas City.

American Public Square invites communities to have frank and open discussions on topical issues of national importance. These gatherings, which occur throughout the region and feature speakers of national and local acclaim, foster fact-based, civil discourse and are expressly nonpartisan.

Beginning in September, American Public Square will call William Jewell College its academic home, and will rebrand accordingly as “American Public Square at Jewell.” American Public Square at Jewell will have a presence on the William Jewell campus with a satellite office, and will continue to maintain its headquarters in midtown, Kansas City.

American Public Square’s founder, former U.S. Ambassador to Portugal Allan Katz, will serve as a Distinguished Professor in Residence in William Jewell’s Department of Political Science. Jewell faculty will contribute to programming and students will be invited to intern at the organization with emphasis on several areas including program development, civic engagement and event planning. At least twice per year, American Public Square will host nationally recognized politicians, speakers and public figures as part of the newly formed “Jewell Union,” a civil debate series, on Jewell’s campus in Liberty.

“William Jewell is Kansas City’s Critical Thinking College®, and so partnering with American Public Square, whose focus is supporting civil dialogue on challenging issues, fits Jewell’s mission perfectly,” said Dr. Elizabeth MacLeod Walls, president of William Jewell College.

American Public Square founder, Ambassador Allan Katz, said, “William Jewell is a respected institution in our region, and American Public Square is eager to bring this new partnership to life for the benefit of our community at large.”

Through its programming, American Public Square at Jewell will continue to seek to change the tone and quality of public discourse, offering a better understanding of divergent perspectives, which is a key step toward respect, compromise and resolution. Programs have featured national figures such as Kathleen Sebelius, Kris Kobach, Howard Dean and John Danforth; experts from groups, including the Cato Institute, MIT, the Woodrow Wilson Institute and the Center for American Progress; and community figures of note, such as Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom and the Rev. Adam Hamilton.