President Obama is also being touted as the nation’s first urban President, having hailed from Honolulu, New York, and Chicago. So the nation’s new leader brings an urban perspective to the highest office in the land. Giving further credence to the “Urban President” description is Mr. Obama’s history of community organizing—his personal civic engagement. All of this is reflected in the expressed agenda for the new Obama administration—their urban agenda.

The whitehouse.gov website displays prominently “urban policy” as part of the administration’s broad and ambitious agenda. Practically all of the issues of great importance to CUMU institutions are listed, and these include the following: “strengthen federal commitment to our cities; stimulate economic prosperity in our metropolitan regions; housing; poverty; livability of cities; urban education; crime and law enforcement; homeland security;” and “families.” For our universities which are located in urban and metropolitan communities and whose focus is largely directed at the problems and challenges of these communities, the Obama Administration’s urban policy intent is great cause for celebration. It would seem that we can anticipate that the White House and federal agencies will give real attention to these issues and that significant federal funds will be forthcoming to actually do something about them!

This is good because, to a very large extent, the problems and challenges of the country are those of our urban areas! As we know, the majority of U. S. citizens now live in urban and metropolitan areas. As captured in the issues listed under the administration’s urban policy agenda, I see critically important steps to broaden the participation in, and enjoyment of, the benefits of life in our great experiment in representative democracy. As de Tocqueville put it . . . “General prosperity is favorable to the stability of all governments, but more particularly of a democratic one, which depends upon the will of the majority, and especially upon the will of that portion of the community which is most exposed to want. When the people rule, they must be rendered happy or they will overturn the state; and misery stimulates them to those excesses to which ambition rouses kings.” (Alexis de Tocqueville, Book 1, Chapter 17, Democracy in America.) One could say, then, that the future of our nation depends upon the well-being of the people in urban and metropolitan areas. Hence, the Obama administration’s urban policy agenda is both appropriate and timely.

Note, however, that this is not the time for CUMU institutions to breathe a deep sigh of relief and relax our efforts to improve our cities because we think the federal government will surely address the issues and solve the problems. Instead, we should redouble our efforts so as to inform and influence the administration’s pursuit of its urban policy agenda. Now is the time for our faculties to investigate even more vigorously the issues of poverty, failing public education, the fiscal challenges of cities, and the other important empirical questions. Now is also the time for our university communities to become even more engaged in helping our urban and metropolitan areas address their challenges through advocacy and volunteerism. Yes, now is the time for CUMU institutions to encourage and assist the Obama administration in tackling our urban problems but also to reaffirm our commitment to transforming our urban and metropolitan communities through our research, our teaching, and our civic engagement!

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