Joel Collins

Fresh from his 80th birthday celebration in early December, Joel Collins was poised to give a final exam to students in his course on the U.S. Constitution at the South Carolina Honors College. Traditionally, the class has been one of the most popular courses at the Honors College despite its academic rigor and the accordingly high expectations of its professor.

“I expect excellence out of them and, for the most part, they deliver,” Collins said of those who take his class.

The lessons they learn from Collins, a distinguished trial lawyer whose gift for storytelling has captivated juries and colleagues for decades, can have a positive spillover effect for those concerned about the state of our body politic.

For years, Collins has been pained that many students entering college lack a basic understanding of civics – the study of government and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

According to Collins, there is a federal statute that requires schools to “teach the U.S. Constitution” to promote a greater understanding and appreciation for the document that is at the heart of the American system of government.

“Plenty of schools don’t comply with the law for reasons spoken and unspoken, but that doesn’t excuse them from failing to educate students about a document that is critical to our way of life,” Collins indicated. “We need to re-double our efforts to teach the Constitution, otherwise we end up with a populace that lacks the tools to know fact from fiction. The educationally vulnerable can easily fall prey to misinformation.

“Many people have lost faith in our institutions, many of which are pivotal to maintaining the social contract that democracy offers,” Collins added. “This type of thinking feeds the authoritarian impulses of those with extremist views.”

While a well-educated public is essential to a properly functioning government, Collins also believes that it “must go hand-in-hand with virtuous behavior,” a concept that has been lost amidst the constant political bickering at all levels of government.

“We need to place special emphasis on choosing people of courage who have the moral fortitude to fight for the causes of justice, equality, and human dignity,” added Collins, a past president of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

“We also need to shine a modern light on the enduring principles of self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, courage, perseverance, honesty, and loyalty. If we do, we have a chance to bridge the deep divides and to end the needless ideological debates that stifle progress.”

Collins, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, counts patriotism among our most treasured virtues, a fact that has gotten lost in the muck of today’s political posturing and squabbling. One of America’s greatest patriots, he noted, was the man who first guided the nation.

That president, of course, was George Washington, the so-called “Father of Our Country,” whom Collins ranks as the finest president this country had to offer.

“He set a great precedent of being a president of class, restraint, excellent judgment, and tolerance for the opinion of others,” said Collins of Washington, who served two terms in office and in affairs of government tried to be above reproach.

“We can always draw inspiration from him,” said Collins who added an immortal quote from Winston Churchill, one of the great leaders and orators of the 20th century.

“The most important virtue is courage,” Churchill said during the dark days of World War II. “It is the virtue that makes all the other virtues possible.”