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By: Amy Charles | August 6, 2025
The University of Pikeville (UPIKE) is proud to announce that its Center for Public Service has been recognized as an official “Oasis of Excellence” by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). This distinction places the center among a select group of programs nationwide dedicated to strengthening the core values of American higher education that include academic freedom, the liberal arts and a commitment to the study of our nation’s foundational principles.
ACTA launched the Oases of Excellence initiative to identify and support college programs that cultivate informed citizens through rigorous engagement with the ideas and institutions that sustain a free society. With this designation, UPIKE joins an elite network of schools, centers and programs working to renew the promise of liberal education and civic responsibility. Other notable programs on the list include Yale University’s Directed Studies Program, the University of Virginia’s Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy, and Notre Dame University’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government.
UPIKE’s Center for Public Service serves as a regional hub for civic education and leadership development in the heart of Central Appalachia. It aims to train the future leaders of our region, strengthen civic life and address the unique challenges facing communities in the region. To that end, the center sponsors dynamic programming year-round that includes community book clubs that spark dialogue on citizenship, an annual Constitution Day celebration that draws hundreds of high school students for a morning of civic activities, and the Allegheny Civic Fellowship, which allows outstanding high schoolers to learn about the history of political thought for three weeks.
Academically, the center enriches student learning through a political science minor and a political and civic engagement certificate, which provides a rigorous grounding in the theory and practice of democratic life. Beyond programming, the center invests in solutions such as funding faculty and student research that addresses the unique challenges facing Central Appalachia.
“The American Council of Trustees and Alumni has long been one of the nation’s leading advocates of the liberal arts,” said Jeffery Tyler Syck, Ph.D., assistant professor of politics and the center’s founding director. “At a time when a robust classical education is more endangered than ever, it is a true honor to be recognized by ACTA for the work we are doing here in the heart of Appalachia.”
For more information about the Center for Public Service and its initiatives, visit upike.edu/public-service. To learn more about ACTA’s Oases of Excellence program, visit goacta.org.