Presidential Opinion

Roger Martin, former dean at Harvard University Divinity School and a past president of Moravian University (PA) and Randolph-Macon College (VA), writes:  Hardly anyone wants to write about the end of a college presidency. Leaving is not as glamorous as arriving. But eventually, all presidents leave their institutions, either to retire or to take on new responsibilities. In many ways, leaving is just as important as arriving.

Marvin Krislov, president, Pace University (NY), writes: I was vice president and general counsel at the University of Michigan when we defended our admissions process in the paired cases brought by Jennifer Gratz, against our undergraduate-admissions policy, and Barbara Grutter, against the admissions policy at our law school. We lost the undergraduate case, with the court finding the system too formula-based, and we won the law-school case, where our holistic policy was found to be appropriately narrowly tailored. Indeed, for the half-century since Bakke — through our two cases, and the two Fisher cases in Texas — the thrust of Supreme Court precedent has been consistent: that student-body diversity is an educational good, that it is acceptable to take race into account as one factor among many in a holistic process that aims to achieve that goal, and that the questions to be adjudicated are about the appropriate tailoring of those policies.

Elizabeth M. Meade, president of Cedar Crest College (PA), writes: The recent decision by the Biden administration to cancel up to $20,000 of student debt has accelerated both media coverage and public discussion of whether college is worth the cost. I would argue that this is the wrong question to be raising altogether. 
A better question to ask: Why do we no longer believe in education as a public good, worthy of investment of public dollars? 

James Herbert, clinical psychologist and president, and Jennifer DeBurro, vice president of student affairs and dean of students, University of New England, write:  Emotional stress is now the top reason students consider dropping out of college, according to the recently released “The State of Higher Education 2022 Report” from Gallup and Lumina Foundation. The mental health crisis facing campuses has grown so dire that U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy recently urged higher education leaders to hire more counselors, expand peer-support programs and collect data on the use of mental health resources on campus. Ramping up mental health resources will undoubtedly be necessary to address the crisis. But it won’t be sufficient. We also need a fundamental shift in the way we approach student well-being.

Jonathan Peri, Ph.D., J.D., president, Manor College (PA), writes:  Student-loan debt forgiveness is a contentious national issue because of perceived fairness.  Our nation is divided on partisan lines. On one hand is the relief needed by recent college graduates in a post-pandemic economy; on the other is the issue of undue taxpayer burden. Both arguments have merit, albeit unequal.