Our Mission

The Center for Responsible Citizenship (CRC) exists to rebuild social fabric at the local level by cultivating community through charitable dialogue on the questions that connect us.

Through both the content and form of these conversations, we bring together individuals and recast them as citizens – vital members of a community who share in the common labor of flourishing.

Who We Are

The CRC was founded at Lee University in 2021 to encourage students to see themselves as vital members of a community, existing within a place and a purpose. By respecting the traditions of that place and moving that community towards its purpose, we become responsible Christian citizens.

Directed by Dr. Thomas Pope, the CRC hosts interdisciplinary reading groups, lectures, workshops, and symposia to cultivate conversation about the elements of a healthy community. These conversations are essential in a time where political life is so frequently lacking patience, deliberation, and charity. The CRC recasts political life as a framework of dialogue, mores, and institutions that help us understand what it means to pursue the good life, together.

The work of the CRC is inspired by the life and legacy of Dr. Peter Augustine Lawler, whose commitment to thoughtful Christian engagement in a complex world impacted the lives of countless students.