There’s no denying that we are living in a fraught time for higher education. While recent political actions have certainly exacerbated the problem—and made it front-page news—the reality is that this has been a crisis many years in the making. The decades-long erosion of state and federal education funding has led to a steady rise in tuition—all happening while graduating seniors enter a job market that keeps getting disrupted by financial instability, global competition, and now, AI. It’s hardly a surprise that even prior to the recent political attacks on higher education, some were already questioning its value.
If that’s an accurate description of the state of higher education one year ago, well (gestures broadly at everything) here we are today. Columbia and Harvard are the most prominent institutions to find themselves in the political crosshairs, but you’d be hard pressed to find a major university that hasn’t had funding pulled, their curriculum questioned, or their reputation attacked. It has put university leadership in a difficult position. Some have fought back, risking further escalation, financial penalties, and unwanted public attention. Others have tried appeasement, which can stave off the immediate threat, but risks angering alumni and donors, eroding academic freedoms, and inviting further attacks down the road.
So, what’s the right answer? I wish it were that easy. The right approach for Harvard and their $53 billion endowment might not be the same for a smaller liberal arts school in the middle of the country—and even a good response likely comes with significant risks and downsides. One thing I have observed, though, is that the institutions who have a strong sense of the historical values that define them—and use them as a guidepost as they confront these challenges—have so far come out ahead. It might be helpful to look at some examples.
Leadership has long been at the core of Harvard’s identity. It’s an attribute they look for in prospective students and a value that’s embedded and instilled throughout the education experience—evident by the number of Harvard alumni in prominent leadership roles across government and business. From this perspective, the natural choice for them was to lean into this core value and take the lead in fighting back—being the first to boldly and publicly push back against what it viewed as hostile government interference. As of this writing, we don’t yet know what the ultimate resolution will be, but Harvard so far, seems determined to come out of it without compromising their core identity.
On the other hand, consider the University of Chicago. When faced with sweeping cuts to federal funding and intrusive investigations, UChicago doubled down on their long-articulated “Chicago Principles,” which enshrine free expression and academic freedom as central to the university’s identity. In this case, staying true to their values meant relying less on confrontational public posturing, and more on legal channels, faculty-led statements, and coordinated responses with other universities. The message was consistent: criticism and differing perspectives are welcome, but academic independence is non-negotiable. By rooting their response in their well-known ethos, UChicago showed their community that it could protect their mission and stay true to who they are.
Taken together, Harvard’s bold defiance and Chicago’s principled insistence on academic independence illustrate an important point: there’s no single playbook. The right response depends on knowing, articulating, and living your institution’s values.
This is where preparation matters. When the next challenge comes—and it will—the institutions best positioned to respond are those that have already done the work of defining their core values in a clear and differentiated way. To be successful, these values can’t just be words on a website, they must be credibly true, broadly known, and institutionally accepted. They are genuine manifestations of the principles that guide a university’s decision-making—currently, historically, and into the future.
We’ve worked with several universities to help them identify and articulate these values—and reinforce them to their communities. We often start by asking questions like:
For university leaders, the answers to these questions aren’t just intellectual exercises. They point to those core truths—the compass that can guide you in moments of crisis. Taking the time to identify and articulate these values is key to your institution’s ability to respond to adversity authentically, decisively, and in a way that strengthens rather than dilutes your identity.