Beginning in February of this academic year, I started meeting with trustees, faculty, staff, and the student government to speak about Colgate’s position regarding the new circumstances facing American higher education. With multiple executive orders and other communications from various federal offices coming at us at a great pace, it was important that the University determine how we would respond to changing realities. In many ways, these conversations echoed the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic — another extremely challenging moment for higher education in general and Colgate in particular.
Now, as then, the University has turned to its values and its mission for guidance in uncertain times. The result of the conversations the trustees, campus leaders, and I have had has been the establishment of a small number of key commitments or guidelines for the University.
These are:
First, Colgate will follow the law.
Colgate has established a working group on legal affairs to review the University’s practices, policies, and published statements to ensure compliance with recent Supreme Court decisions as well as federal and state legislation. Thankfully, Colgate completed a similar review following rulings regarding the admissions practices at Harvard and North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and there has been no need for drastic changes to Colgate’s policies or processes.
Second, Colgate will remain committed to access.
First — and this is more related to the current climate than might appear right away — we are committed to increasing access to Colgate through new financial aid programs and funds. We seek to welcome to our campus talented students, faculty, and staff from any and all quarters of our society. Related to this, we will not accept efforts to tell us whom we can admit, or who can be part of this community. Again, we will follow the law, but within that boundary, it is up to the University to determine who should be here.
Third, academic freedom and freedom of expression will remain our north stars.
The classroom is sacrosanct. As is freedom of inquiry and debate in all its forms. This must be true in all that we do or the University will fail in its mission to educate students and create new knowledge. Ever since we produced our Report on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression in 2018, our resolve to support freedom of expression has been unwavering.
Finally, we will take care of each other.
The pandemic threatened one of our most distinctive characteristics: our ability to be together. Colgate is a place where we learn in person, as a community, and those bonds last lifetimes. Our students, professors, and staff members draw energy and build creativity by collaborating in exciting new ways, semester after semester. During COVID, we took steps that might have seemed impossible so that we could preserve this essential element of Colgate’s personality. We take care of each other. We will do
so again.
As I write this, the group that we must consider are our international students — who provide an invaluable perspective in our classrooms and residence halls. These Colgate students are supported daily through our Office of International Student Services, and Colgate is facilitating legal consultations for those concerned about their immigration status. We will find ways to house and feed these students should they need to stay within our national borders this summer. In short: If you are a member of this community, you will be supported by this community.
To date, Colgate has largely been spared the broad cuts in federal funding that our peers have seen. But we cannot take comfort in this fact. No institution of higher education is immune to the decisions and discourse coming from Washington, D.C. The values that we hold — free expression, vigorous debate, and rigorous investigation — seem themselves to be under direct attack. But they are the hallmarks of our mission. We must always uphold these values.
The University launched its Third-Century Plan to ensure that Colgate will thrive for generations to come. Those of us who steward this place can never forget our duty to the community of today and the student body, faculty, and staff of tomorrow. Therefore, Colgate will insist on following the rule of law, persist in its commitment to a rigorous liberal arts education, and resist any effort to interfere with the well-being and education of classmates and colleagues.