Recent events have accelerated and complicated what was already building toward a crescendo of either doom or transformation in higher education and our country. For example, we have:

• Widespread governmental and political interference in curriculum, working conditions, and learning opportunities
• The near-instantaneous full flowering of generative AI
• Students suffering pandemic-based academic setbacks and mental health challenges
• Student protests and disruptions prompted by the war in Gaza
• Confusing administrative and public responses to protests
• Colleges closing at the rate of about one per week, and many others merging
• Catastrophic federal delays to awarding student financial aid
• Public dissatisfaction with and low appreciation for higher education

Presidents today need to read the room at every level simultaneously—institution, community, state, and beyond. They need a multi-faceted, flexible strategy that will work here and now, but also for years to come. It will need to synthesize more variables more quickly with more analysis and foresight than ever before. It will need broader, more informed input and deeper, wiser discussions. To be successful, the strategy will reflect leadership’s shared understanding of what matters most, and it will inform and energize everyone who cares about the institution.

 Presidents today need to read the room at every level simultaneously—institution, community, state, and beyond. They need a multi-faceted, flexible strategy that will work here and now, but also for years to come.   

At this writing, many people within and outside higher education see the presidential election this November as what matters most because they see it as a choice between democracy and autocracy. When people do not feel safe disagreeing with one another, especially in the context of a college or university, democracy is dying and learning becomes training or indoctrination. For them and for all who cherish freedom, top priorities include restoring open dialogue grounded in facts and reason, rebuilding civic education, and ensuring that educators can teach facts, figures, and ideas in their areas of expertise without fear.

Governing boards have the legal authority and moral responsibility to prevent governmental and political intrusion that violates the institution’s ability to fulfill its mission. The board and president must be well-informed partners acting as true fiduciaries, eschewing personal agendas and complaints to focus solely on the best interests of the institution with care, loyalty, and obedience.

The chapters that follow reflect these volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous times and leaders’ thoughtful, creative, brave decisions in these perilous times.