Presidential Opinion

Daniel Diermeier, Chancellor, Vanderbilt University writes: Conversations about free speech on campus often focus on the intolerance of divergent viewpoints among students and faculty. And indeed, maintaining a culture of open discourse and free expression is essential if universities are to fulfill their mission. Our purpose lies in providing our students with a transformative education and providing our faculty members with an environment where they can engage in pathbreaking research. Both education and research are best served in an academic climate where students and faculty can feel free to debate complex issues and challenge conventional wisdom. As Alexander Heard, Vanderbilt University’s fifth chancellor, put it in 1965, “The university’s obligation is not to protect students from ideas, but rather to expose them to ideas, and to help make them capable of handling, and, hopefully, having ideas.”

Marvin Krislov, President, Pace University writes: As debates continue about how to solve the student loan crisis in our country, one federal program with significant benefits doesn’t get enough attention. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program was created in 2007 to help federal student loan borrowers who choose to go into nonprofit or governmental careers, which typically pay less than jobs in the for-profit sector.

Sean M. Decatur, President, Kenyon College writes: Ihave been asked over the years by well-intentioned white acquaintances whether I see myself as a college president or a Black college president. My racial identity, like all aspects of my experience, is not something from which I can (or would want to) separate. It informs the way I see the world, the way I teach, the way I lead. But the question itself inverts the reality of the lived experience of Black Americans. I know, and my colleagues know, that I will be seen as a Black president, regardless of how I define or describe myself.

Lori White, president of DePauw University (IN), writes: Confidence in higher ed is slipping, in part because some adults assume colleges do not provide open opportunities for learning and debate. Regardless of whether this perspective is wholly accurate, campuses should rest on freedom of expression and exploration of ideas.

Dave Pivonka, President, Franciscan University of Steubenville writes: Biology 101 tells us men’s bodies and women’s bodies are different. Because they are, Title IX legislation has elevated women’s sports.