Colorado State University – Pueblo dean brings education and democracy to Soviet bloc co

Pueblo- A Colorado State University – Pueblo administrator is gaining an international look at the growth of higher education while working to improve education in the nations of the former Soviet bloc.

CSU-Pueblo Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Russ Meyer is a member of the
University Partnerships for Education and Citizenship (UPEC), an initiative of the Alliance of Universities for Democracy (AUDEM), of which he serves as American Vice President. AUDEM was formed in 1990, shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and is dedicated to improving education in the nations of the former Soviet bloc. In more recent years, the Alliance has focused on helping to improve education on both sides of the Atlantic, having found that Central and Eastern European colleagues often have as much to offer us as we have to offer them.

Last year, AUDEM formed UPEC in partnership with the American Democracy Project (ADP, a partnership of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and The New York Times), the International Herald Tribune, and the Council of Europe. UPEC promotes civic engagement and citizenship among young people in Central and Eastern Europe.

As Don Betz, Provost at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, noted at an ADP meeting in Portland last week, such developments in Central and Eastern Europe demonstrate the success of ADP at home and the importance of encouraging civic engagement abroad.

As UPEC coordinator for AUDEM, Meyer helps arrange partner institutions and planning UPEC-related events at the AUDEM conferences. UPEC’s goal is to partner U.S. institutions with Central and Eastern European counterparts to work together on civic engagement projects, with American institutions primarily offering advice and demonstrating what they have done on their home campuses. AUDEM provides a venue for initial and follow-up meetings at annual conferences.

“If my own experience is any guide, I suspect that our U.S. colleagues learn as much from their European partners as the Europeans learn from us. For example, it’s interesting to me that university administrators in that part of the world are elected by the faculty and serve limited terms,” Meyer said.

AUDEM's 14th annual conference on Oct. 23-26 is of special note because of its location in Yalta, Ukraine, the site of the famous meeting of Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt.

“It’s a pretty exciting and historic place, no matter what you think of the outcome of the Yalta Conference (which did, after all, result in the dividing of Europe into pro-Western and pro-Soviet blocs),” Meyer said.

Meyer sees the American Democracy Project as one of the most exciting things happening on U.S. college and university campuses today.

“While our efforts at CSU-Pueblo are still nascent, they are slowly growing. On other American campuses, civic engagement has become a way of life for large numbers of students and faculty. Following this lead, those of us in AUDEM hope to bring the same sort of excitement, dedication, and success to Central and Eastern Europe,” he said.


Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.