Howard Baker Jr.'s daughter says UT school in his name is a great honor | Georgiana Vines

Cynthia “Cissy” Baker says a ribbon-cutting ceremony that officially recognized the Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs on the University of Tennessee campus is a dream come true for her dad.

The Friday ceremony brought together Cissy Baker and other family members; university leaders; staffers of the former U.S. senator, presidential chief of staff and U.S. ambassador; former colleagues; and new board directors reflecting the program diversity of the school. The school has evolved from the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, which began in 2008.

"The opening of the Baker School is one of the greatest moments in our family's history. It is the honor of a lifetime for the entire Baker family,” Cissy Baker said in a statement provided to this columnist prior to the ceremony. “Dad always told us that public service is an honorable profession. Growing up he taught us, through his own actions, the spirit of fairness, honesty, and civility. He was passionate about wanting to educate young people to become our leaders of tomorrow. Now they have a school to go to like no other in the country. Words cannot express the deep appreciation our family feels witnessing one of Dad's final dreams come true."

She came from her home in McLean, Virginia, to join in the celebration of a school that started primarily as a museum, archives and event space but has become a policy think tank.

“The establishment of this school is an expression of confidence in America’s future and in Tennessee’s. Our mission is to produce skilled public problem solvers, grounded in the legacy of Howard Baker, and prepare them to take public leadership roles in their communities,” Marianne Wanamaker, the school’s dean, said in a release. “We’re launching this school with tremendous institutional and public support because the world needs the skilled leaders we will develop now more than ever.”

Those participating in the ribbon-cutting included “Cissy” Baker and her brother, Darek Baker; Wanamaker; University of Tennessee at Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman; Randy Boyd, UT System president; John Scheb, interim associate dean for academic affairs at the Baker School; James A. Haslam II, chairman of the Baker School board of directors; former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam; and Jackson Scott, a graduate teaching assistant and first-year student in the new Master of Public Policy and Administration program, representing students from the school.

Earlier in the week, the school announced the appointment of Susan Hubbard, deputy for science and technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as a member of the Baker School’s board of directors. The Baker School partners with ORNL on research and education in the areas of nuclear security and energy, transportation and environmental policy.

Baker was from Huntsville, Tennessee, and as a lawyer had offices in Knoxville and Huntsville. While in the Senate, he had a reputation for being a moderate Republican who was willing to compromise to achieve goals. He died in 2014 at the age of 88. His wife, Joy Dirksen Baker, who was the mother of his two children, died in 1993. He subsequently married former U.S. Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum, who moved back to her home state of Kansas after his death.

The Baker School became official July 1, 2023, following approval by the UT Board of Trustees and Tennessee Higher Education Commission. The university is investing $4 million in the school its first year, matching the legislature’s $4 million investment through a new Institute of American Civics. The School is building private financial supports for other activities as well.

Two specialized centers – the Center for Energy, Transportation and Environmental Policy and the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs – began operating in September.

∎ ANOTHER UT NOTABLE REMEMBERED: Bruce Wheeler, a well-known historian who wrote three books on Knoxville, specialized in his field on the American Revolution, directed the UT Honors Program and was a popular speaker in the community, was remembered by the Knoxville History Project with a program April 9 to a packed house at Maple Hall. Wheeler died at age 84 at his home on Nov. 11, 2023.

Many laudatory remarks were made by former students and colleagues. The comments that struck many were his own, delivered by Ernie Freeberg, former head of the UT History Department and who remains on the faculty.

Freeberg said Wheeler always was concerned about intellectual freedom in the university environment. A summary of Wheeler’s speech that Freeberg read was given in 2016 to the Society of Appalachian Historians at a meal at Sweet P's BBQ during the group's meeting at the East Tennessee History Center.

At the time, Wheeler said most young people who enroll in colleges or universities expect to be prepared for making a living and living the “good life of prosperity and satisfaction.” For faculty and some administrators, however, the primary goal is to expand minds, help students increase their knowledge of the world and assist them in finding their respective places in that world, he said.

However, Wheeler said, there are some in Southern colleges and universities, in a region that poet and author Allen Tate referred to as “Uncle Sam’s other province,” who want to protect students against ideas “that their surrounding areas, state legislators, and parents would find threatening and even dangerous (Darwinism, racial integration, books, films and music that challenge accepted ideas, etc.).” This must take place in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom, Wheeler said.

He continued, “Leaders of public universities were terrified of reactions by legislators of what was going on in the classrooms, residence halls, and even off-campus social clubs, for those leaders knew that, like Oliver Twist, they would have to journey to their respective state capitals to plead for just a few more spoonfuls.

“To be sure, there were courageous leaders who sought to protect their institutions from attacks on intellectual freedom, but those brave men and women were a rarity.“In Knoxville, throughout much of the 20th century, the University of Tennessee has tried to broaden its students’ ideas and visions while simultaneously erecting a wall around the campus that would keep controversial notions away from those so-called ‘innocents’ who were being ‘educated’ in ways that many in the region would find dangerous.

“When those two tendencies or inclinations came into conflict, those who built the wall almost won out,” Wheeler said.

An argument can be made that the wall has become higher since Wheeler made this speech, with legislators across the country banning diversity and equity programs.

∎ NEW PARTY CHAIR: The executive committee of the Knox County Democratic Party has elected Stuart Hohl as its new chairman, replacing Matt Shears, who has moved out of the state.

Hohl, a post supervisor for Jupiter Entertainment, was elected last week. In the 2022 Knox County elections, he ran for the 3rd District County Commission seat but was defeated by Republican Gina Oster. They campaigned to replace Republican Randy Smith, who was term limited.

Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Georgiana Vines: Senator's daughter says school in his name an honor