Presidential Opinion

Earlier this month, Kimbrough, the president of Dillard University, and C. Reynold Verret, the president of Xavier University of Louisiana, issued a public letter announcing that they were participating in a Covid-19 vaccine trial. Kimbrough and Verret, both leaders of private, historically Black universities in New Orleans, encouraged their students, faculty, staff, and alumni to consider participating in the same trial or others like it.

Susan Henking, President, Salem College writes: These days I find myself asking whether there is such a thing as institutional schadenfreude. That might be a good label for the realization, as one scans the landscape of higher education, that the incredibly hard decision a number of colleges made weeks and months ago to be fully remote this fall has been confirmed by the awful experience of many institutions around us. Some -- for example, Beloit University -- were truly creative from the very beginning. One wonders what their leaders think now, as we hear of institutions that open with limited or full face-to-face classes and then must rapidly move back online instead. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. North Carolina State University. The University of Notre Dame. The list goes on.

Biddy Martin, President, Amherst College writes: If and when the federal government responds to the crisis with stimulus funds, as it surely must, I fervently hope our representatives will support states and localities because we cannot afford, as a country, to have our public institutions of higher education weakened or, in some cases, decimated. It is hard for people to imagine the loss of conditions they have always had and, therefore, take for granted.

Shirly M. Collado, President, Ithaca College; and Svante Myrick, Mayor, Ithaca, NY write: As school leaders grapple with what to do, they must recognize their decisions have massive health implications for the cities and towns in which they reside — regardless of whether college students themselves are at serious risk of the disease.

Shirley M. Collado, President, Ithaca College writes: Stepping into this role, I was intentional about building a diverse senior-leadership team, with the understanding that not only are students tired of attending institutions that do not affirm who they are — they are also exhausted from navigating systems that do not understand or support them. We must make a real commitment to equity and to better serving students from all walks of life.