Governor Patrick Morrisey and WVU President Michael Benson announced Patrick Lee Miller as the founding director of the Washington Center for Civics, Culture, and Statesmanship at West Virginia University.
Miller is an associate professor at Duquesne University specializing in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, Platonic philosophy, Nietzschean thought, and psychoanalysis. He holds multiple advanced degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, McGill University, and the Psychoanalytic Institute of the Carolinas.
Key Details
The Washington Center was established through House Bill 3297, introduced by House Majority Leader Pat McGeehan. The legislature allocated $1.5 million in general revenue funding for the current fiscal year.
Miller expressed deep personal commitment to the role, stating: "I have lived with that feeling since I was a boy...I knew immediately that for me, this was it."
The center focuses on teaching classical Western history, culture, and American constitutional thought. Miller's vision encompasses training students from ancient Greece and Rome through the U.S. Constitution to contemporary challenges, drawing historical parallels to understand current crises.
The director position carries a renewable five-year term and requires expertise in Western tradition, American founding principles, and constitutional thought.
Governor Morrisey praised Miller's appointment, emphasizing that the center will provide students with a rigorous education in the foundations of Western civilization and American democracy. "Dr. Miller understands that higher education should be about teaching students not what to think, but how to think," the Governor stated.
The establishment of the Washington Center represents a significant investment in civic education at West Virginia's flagship university. By grounding students in the classical tradition and the American founding, the center aims to prepare the next generation of citizens and leaders who understand the philosophical and historical foundations of free society.
Miller's interdisciplinary background brings together classical philosophy, political theory, and psychological insight—a unique combination that will inform the center's approach to civic education. His emphasis on drawing parallels between historical crises and contemporary challenges will help students develop the critical thinking skills needed to navigate complex political and social issues.
The center is expected to become a hub for intellectual debate and civic discourse on campus, hosting lectures, symposia, and programs that engage students, faculty, and the broader community in discussions about the principles and practices that sustain free societies.
This initiative reflects the administration's broader commitment to ensuring that West Virginia's universities provide students with a strong foundation in American civics and Western intellectual traditions, countering what the Governor sees as ideological imbalance in contemporary higher education.
Originally published by The Intelligencer
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