<div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif;font-size:small"><span style="background-color:transparent"></span><b style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">The Institute for Ethics in Public Life invites you to join us for "Whither the University," at 3:30pm on Wednesday, Oct. 21 (in person or on Zoom).</b></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"> </span><br style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;padding:0px"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">Higher education in the United States is being described as in a "</span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.prosperaresearch.org/articles/higher-education-crisis&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw24jTGATBmkN44CnF2cC3EM" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">crisis</a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">". The federal government is </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/Congress-Moves-Slash-Funding-Budget-Showdown.aspx&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw3xmLH6Qvr74helURHypQjL" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">cutting funding for higher education in general</a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">, and </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/trump-slashed-billions-for-education-in-2025-see-our-list-of-affected-grants/2026/01&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw2Ex428tywIx1glBwKQlWir" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">cancelling grants that don't align with its political priorities</a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">.  State governments are taking steps to </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.chronicle.com/article/states-are-once-again-taking-aim-at-tenure-this-time-might-be-different&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw1WfzE441Oa6vST6Y5KcMAE" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"><u>abolish or limit tenure and faculty academic freedom</u></a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"> and </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/state-policy/2026/04/30/new-state-laws-land-blows-against-shared-governance-tenure&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw3YYkynypRFr697z9yT3d5P" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"><u>reduce or eliminate shared governance</u></a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">.  Public confidence in institutions of higher education has collapsed in the last decade, from </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.the74million.org/article/the-massive-collapse-in-college-confidence-isnt-getting-any-better/&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw2k14fppBHtJPbD4POclICM" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">57% to 38% according to Gallup</a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">. </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/10/15/growing-share-of-americans-say-the-us-higher-education-system-is-headed-in-the-wrong-direction/&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw1WFLopSrjmO2DLT8D_5UUa" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">70% of Americans surveyed by Pew think higher education is going in the wrong direction</a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">, and this has gone up 10 points since 2020. </span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;padding:0px"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"></div></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">What is going on? Some question whether there is even a crisis, since even as public confidence has fallen </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/crisis-us-higher-education-what-crisis&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw3cUfaTYLW9MnWU0DD1sil-" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">enrollment data indicates that Americans still value higher education</a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">. At the same time, the cuts to funding and attacks on tenure and shared governance as well as public concern over the high cost of higher education and whether degrees still have value are real. So what should we do in response? Do we need to do a better job of </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/trump-columbia-universities/682012/&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw0i7AiyeajUVmwLIblVwwAH" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">informing the public about what we do, coupled with reforms where they are warranted</a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">? Is the real issue one of </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2026/04/08/the_real_crisis_in_higher_education_isnt_just_ideology-_its_faculty_decline_1175528.html&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw2E-cRm7gWHUZfU7d1HjuGT" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">faculty decline that will require sustained investment to address</a><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">? Or is something else at work, requiring more fundamental changes in higher education?</span></div></div></blockquote><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;padding:0px"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">Please join us in person in the Thomas Moran Seminar Room of the Institute for Ethics in Public Life (Hawkins 233) or on Zoom (see below). </span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;padding:0px"><font color="#1f1f1f" face="Google Sans Text, Google Sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"><br></span></font><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">Topic: Whither the University?</span></blockquote><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;padding:0px"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">Time: Oct 21, 2026 03:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)</span></div></div></blockquote><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><br style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual"></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border-width:medium;border-style:none;border-color:currentcolor;padding:0px"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(31,31,31);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">Join Zoom Meeting</span></div></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://plattsburgh.zoom.us/j/88992533100&sa=D&source=calendar&ust=1792598003879408&usg=AOvVaw0YFBH23Y7-N9lCM7PuyN2r" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(11,87,208);font-family:"Google Sans Text","Google Sans",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-variant-ligatures:no-contextual">https://plattsburgh.zoom.us/j/88992533100</a></div></div></blockquote><div><br clear="all"></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:"trebuchet ms",sans-serif"><b style="background-color:transparent">Upcoming events are posted on the Institute's public calendar <a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=Y19sa245c3MxcjdscjExdmM0ZzNtMDlyaDUyb0Bncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t" target="_blank">here</a>.</b></div></div><br clear="all"></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><b><font size="2">Daniel Lake</font></b></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><font size="2">(pronouns: he/him/his)<br></font></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><font size="2">Professor of Political Science</font></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><font size="2">Director, Institute for Ethics in Public Life<br></font></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><font size="2">Hawkins 149A</font></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><font size="2"><a href="https://maps.google.com/?q=101+Broad+Street+Plattsburgh,+NY+12901&entry=gmail&source=g" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">101 Broad Street</a></font></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><font size="2"><a href="https://maps.google.com/?q=101+Broad+Street+Plattsburgh,+NY+12901&entry=gmail&source=g" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">Plattsburgh, NY 12901</a></font></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><font size="2">(o) <a href="tel:(518)%5645833" value="+15185642217" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">518-564-5833</a></font></p><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin:0px;line-height:normal;font-family:Arial"><b><font size="2"><a href="http://plattsburgh.edu/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">plattsburgh.edu</a></font></b><br></p></div><div dir="ltr"><img src="https://web.plattsburgh.edu/files/914/images/SUNY-Plattsburgh-Email-Logo-2018.jpg"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>