I write this approximately 10 days after Election Day, and much like the rest of the country, the members of the Colgate campus community are considering the implications of the recent presidential election results, wondering both what it might mean for the University and what it might mean for the nation. These questions are particularly acute for members of a campus community because, for many, one of the reasons for the particular election results was the campus itself. For some observers, it was the culture of the elite American campus itself that was rejected by the majority of the nation. For others, there is the question of whether sufficient attention was paid to, or conveyed about, the implications of a return by Donald Trump to the White House.
In either case, the American college and university seemed, in some meaningful way, to be on the ballot itself. What role did the American college or university play, or not play, in the election? What can, or should, be said about an election?
Of course, others will state a university has no business at all having any sort of opinion about political matters. Indeed, these observers will argue, the faculty and staff of any college or university must take pains not to have public opinions at all about political events or positions. You see this position in recent discussions about whether a campus should formally declare that they will abide by “institutional neutrality” — stating that the university will not issue public statements about political events or regarding major unfolding foreign policy or domestic events. To have an institutional position on political matters or on events can stifle the essential act of the university: the rigorous pursuit of truth through debate, inquiry, and discovery.
I have charged a working group of faculty, staff, and trustees to consider this matter and to offer me guidance on when and how the University should consider issuing any sort of statement about current events.
Whatever the results of that report and the subsequent deliberations about its recommendations — whether some form of prudence or limitation about the use of the “institutional voice” is called for — questions about the role of and the culture of the American campus will still be debated both on campuses and in the media.
One thing is certain, however, and that is that the American college is inextricably linked to the nation’s operations and its form of government. Our colleges and universities are foundational to our democracy. Colleges and universities have always been the place where political ideas are debated. More importantly, the college or university has, as one its most essential functions, the training of citizens. Our graduates will go on to join education boards and local election boards. They will work in places that set policy. They will be voters.
So, as Colgate thinks about the role of the University at this time, I will be developing a series of speakers and hosting a set of debates in which we — and you, our alumni — will consider the role of the University in our nation. What responsibilities does a private university have in supporting the public good?
We will be focusing our attention on our own mission and its role in our polity. We will ask questions of ourselves, we will ask about our mission, we will turn our skills of inquiry and debate toward the very work of our enterprise. Through this, perhaps, we can become a model for the nation — an institution that asks the hardest of questions, even about itself.
We will send information about this series as it develops, and I hope you can join with the campus in this discussion.