Students, faculty, and alumni from CPAP Alexandria participate in
High Table

For centuries Oxford and Cambridge Universities have maintained a tradition that faculty and students eat together wearing their academic regalia. They may be joined on these occasions by Fellows of the college, usually graduates who have distinguished themselves in some way. Honored guests are seated at the High Table and, typically, one of them is asked to speak on a substantial topic.

The Center for Public Administration and Policy (CPAP) has held its own American hybrid of this ancient British custom in Blacksburg since 1986. Recently, 12 CPAP students in the National Capital Region, as well as a number of faculty and alumni attended the event.

“High Table is a very formative event for CPAP students,” said Anne Khademian, associate chair for CPAP in the National Capital Region. “It is an opportunity to gather with our broader CPAP community of students and faculty from Virginia Tech’s three campus locations.

“Further, High Table offers an excellent means of participating in a rigorous exchange of ideas with a world renowned scholar to engage and challenge the study and practice of public administration and policy,” she said.

Khademian said that CPAP looks at High Table as an occasion to remind faculty and students of the special nature of their vocation — a life dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and to sharing it with others.

Rosemary O'Leary, Distinguished Professor and Howard G. and S. Louise Phanstiel Chair in Strategic Management and Leadership, Maxwell School of Syracuse University, addressed the group. The theme of her presentation was “Managing Guerilla Government.” Guerilla government is O’Leary’s term for the actions of career public servants who work against the wishes – either implicitly or explicitly communicated – of their superiors.

An elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration, O’Leary was a senior Fulbright scholar in Malaysia in 1998-1999 and in the Philippines in 2005-2006. She was co-founder and co-director of the Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute. Her areas of expertise include Public Management, Environmental Policy, Dispute Resolution, and Law. She is the author or editor of six books and more than 100 articles on public management and public policy and the only person to win three awards from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA).

Posted April 9, 2009