Depending on whom you ask, you will get wildly different views on the state of the American university.
Some will tell you it is a moment of exhilarating promise and possibilities. Technology enables us to break the barriers of time and space to deliver quality instruction directly to students, when and where they prefer. New models are emerging that place students at the center of all we do. We’re rethinking financial aid and student loans in new and innovative ways.
Others are much more pessimistic. They see ChatGPT writing papers, maniacal zealots indoctrinating young minds with woke, left-wing ideology, or, alternatively, right-wing idealogues banning books and prohibiting the honest teaching of history. They see students leaving in droves because everything they need to know in life they can learn from YouTube, Google, and Wikipedia.
But let’s take a step back from this divisive debate. This is a call to embrace three basic principles to guide our path through this time of transformative change:
· Recognize higher education as a public good.
· Depoliticize our colleges and universities.
