Autocracy Is Eroding Higher Education
Preview:
For more than two centuries, American colleges have been wrestling earnestly, if not always successfully, with a set of questions rooted in the assumption that they were situated within a democratic society. How, and to what degree, should students be prepared for engaged citizenship? How can one create what Cornell University, my alma mater, calls “a culture of broad inquiry”? When, if ever, should higher education use its voice to speak to social and political issues? These questions all take for granted the fact that engaged citizenship, broad inquiry, and political speech are permissible.
Originally published: October 2, 2025
Author: Brian Rosenberg
Position: President Emeritus
Institution: Macalester College
Published by: The Chronicle of Higher Ed