The public is invited to join the discussion at two evening panels at Rackham Auditorium featuring national educational leaders. A reception will be held following the panels.

On May 22 at 7 p.m. Earl Lewis, President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and former vice provost and dean of U-M’s Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, will join Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges & Universities, and Pauline Yu, president of the American Council of Learned Societies to discuss the current status of liberal arts and sciences at research universities from their perspectives as leaders of major national foundations and professional organizations supporting the liberal arts.

On May 23 at 7 p.m. U-M President Mary Sue Coleman, will be joined by former U-M President James J. Duderstadt and Teresa A. Sullivan, President of the University of Virginia and former U-M provost, to discuss their answers to the question: "Are the Liberal Arts and Basic Sciences Still the Heart of the Research University?"