Darrell’s Opening Essay

As a member of the Editorial Board of the eJournal of Public Affairs, I recall the earliest conversations the board had several years ago about the mission of the journal. The vision was strengthened by a variety of perspectives, offered by accomplished, civic-minded individuals, most of us connected professionally to higher education. Despite the range of experience and achievement represented on the board, a general consensus of hope and purpose coalesced around several objectives. Board members appreciated the need for a journal that could use the technological possibilities of an online format to broaden the conversation about public life, yet do so while sustaining the peer-reviewed standard necessary to validate academic rigor in the contribution of original research. Another goal was to expand the reach and depth of public conversation to include topics and voices that are underrepresented in traditional academic journals. And there was a sense of excitement that the web of connections that relate public life to the work and purposes of higher education could be more fully explored by including agendas and critical expression beyond quantitative and qualitative design. In short, the vision was energized by a desire to offer a publication that had what traditional academic journals had always presented – and also more of what such journals often do not provide.