Oct. 7 Kicked Off a Difficult Year for Higher Ed. How Should Universities Move Forward Now?

In retrospect, perhaps it was inevitable that the horrifying Hamas attack on Israel last Oct. 7—and the escalation of horrors that ensued when Israel invaded Gaza—would light a spark on many U.S. campuses. Ultimately, it’s all led to an interrogation of the very purpose of higher education: Should campuses be “galvanizing venues for learning about human rights and liberation,” as one university president writes below? Or should they place restrictions on protest and speech—as many campuses have done with revised policies in effect this fall—and refocus on a purely academic mission, as others argue? The questions are thorny and fraught, to say the least.