AAC&U in the News

Past News Items

• Higher Ed Dive / January 2
  Why More Colleges Are Embracing AI Offerings
  “We can’t not lean in to provide students with the skills that we know they’re now expected to have when they graduate,” says AAC&U Vice President for Digital Innovation C. Edward Watson.
• The Hill / December 23
  Will New Trump Immigration Policies Keep International Students out of the US?
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella discusses how college leaders, lobbyists and donors are growing anxious over the future of education under a second Trump administration.
• Inside Higher Ed / December 19
  How will AI influence higher ed in 2025?
  AAC&U Senior Scholar Jose Antonio Bowen one of seven experts tapped to offer predictions on how AI will influence higher education in 2025.
• NOTUS / December 2
  Trump and Linda McMahon Are Poised to Reshape Higher Education
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella says, “There’s skepticism around the value of a college degree, and they’re reinforcing this by … saying that higher education is the enemy.”
• The Hill / November 30
  Top 5 Education Policies Trump May Pursue His Second Term
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella says actions imposed by the Trump Administration could erode “academic freedom, institutional autonomy and the democratic purposes of higher education.”
• Folha de S. Paolo / November 27
  Trump’s Election Leads to Fear of Interference and Cuts to American Universities
  “There is concern about the promise to eliminate the Department of Education and what this can mean for the protection of students and teams,” says AAC&U Lynn Pasquerella.
• The Hill / November 14
  Donald Trump's return sparks concern for K-12 and colleges
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella says threats to "tax endowments, impose budget reconciliation, and fine institutions" risk “eroding academic freedom, institutional autonomy and the democratic purposes of higher education.”
• China Daily / November 12
  Sun Yat-sen University Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella addressed attendees at the university’s innovation forum in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. “Sun Yat-sen University's research innovation . . . will benefit the nation and the world,” she said.
• Inside Higher Ed / November 8
  Education-Level Voting Gaps Are Highest Among Men, White People
  In an email to Inside Higher Ed, AAC&U's Nancy Thomas wrote, "These numbers make me curious about what influences [voters] . . . and their implications for education and democracy. The point is, there's a lot to consider."
• The Chronicle of Higher Education / November 1
  On the Eve of a Tight Election, Higher Ed is Holding Its Breath
  “The strength of democracy is contingent on the strength of higher education. Higher education is truly on the ballot," said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• University World News / October 26
  Universities Grapple with Challenges to Freedom, Democracy
  During a recent conference hosted by the Magna Charta Observatory and PEN America, AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella noted a majority of faculty “are concerned about their ability to express what they believe as scholars."
• The Hechinger Report and GBH News / October 17
  The Politics of the College Presidency | College Uncovered, Season 3, Episode 6
  In the latest College Uncovered episode, AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella reflects on the evolving role of college presidents, emphasizing their commitment to thriving institutions amidst political and financial challenges.
• Inside Higher Ed / October 7
  Oct. 7 Kicked Off a Difficult Year for Higher Ed. How Should Universities Move Forward Now?
  "This moment provides an opportunity to reaffirm higher education's public purpose as . . . an essential driver of social mobility, economic growth and national security," says AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• NPR / October 5
  Colleges Are Having Special Trainings for Incoming Students After the Year of Protests
  Higher ed leaders like Lynn Pasquerella, president of AA&U, say if colleges don’t listen to their critics, they’ll be complicit in their own demise.
• The Chronicle of Higher Education / October 3
  The Future is Hybrid
  “If you think about what students require post-graduation, it’s hard not to embrace AI as a learning outcome,” says C. Edward Watson, AAC&U's vice president for digital innovation.
• Inside Higher Ed / September 26
  AAC&U launches faculty help desk on campus conflict
  “I’ve been doing this work for a long time, and what I’m worried about is the backdrop of fear and self-censorship on campuses,” Nancy Thomas, executive director of AAC&U’s IDHE, tells Inside Higher Ed.
• The Hechinger Report and GBH News / September 19
  The Politics of Protest | College Uncovered, Season 3, Episode 2
  “We’re at a crucible moment in American higher education, and we must listen to the critics who are concerned. If we don’t, then we will be complicit in our own demise,” says AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• The New York Times / September 14
  Should a 'Diverse' Campus Mean More Conservatives?
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella said calls for viewpoint diversity too readily play into caricatures of professors as wild-eyed radicals seeking to indoctrinate students.
• Inside Higher Ed / September 13
  AAC&U Launches Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum
  “The rapid emergence of generative AI has resulted in profound opportunities and challenges for nearly all disciplines in higher education,” said C. Edward Watson, vice president for digital innovation at AAC&U.
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / September 6
  New Report Suggests How, Why to Promote Collegiate Civic Learning
  The report comes from the Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Coalition, led by AAC&U, Campus Compact, College Promise, CCA, and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
• Inside Higher Ed / August 28
  Can Professors Get STEM Students to Vote?
  “You can help students learn about their responsibilities in democracy and it will affect both the Republican students and the Democrat students equally,” said Nancy Thomas, executive director of AAC&U’s IDHE.
• Financial Times / August 25
  How America’s Billionaire Alumni Weaponize Elite University Donations
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella tells the Financial Times she is concerned by “a new permission structure for the weaponization of donations” fueled by polarized politics ahead of the presidential election.
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / August 21
  Report Assesses Civics Education at Community Colleges
  “This report demonstrates how community colleges continue to be at the forefront of civic efforts as foundational anchors within the communities they serve,” said AAC&U President, Lynn Pasquerella.
• Inside Higher Ed / August 19
  AAC&U, Elon University Launch AI Guide for Students
  The new how-to guide will help students navigate AI effectively and ethically.
• Mass Live / July 24
  Will free community college hurt enrollment at 4-year universities? Here’s what we know.
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella says that while free community college could benefit state and private institutions through transfer students, those students need seamless pathways to four-year institutions.
• The Hechinger Report / July 16
  OPINION: What Teachers Call AI Cheating, Leaders in the Workforce Might Call Progress
  AAC&U VP Eddie Watson and Senior Scholar José Antonio Bowen explore what AI literacy might look like in a new era.
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / July 10
  Villarreal to Oversee AAC&U Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success
  Dr. Mary Ann Villarreal will focus on advancing equity and student success efforts in service to undergraduate populations and academic excellence.
• The University Business Podcast / June 11
  Dissecting Mistrust in Higher Education with Lynn Pasquerella
  “We need to stand up and defend the principles that caused us to enter leadership roles in the first place,” AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella said in a May 21 podcast interview.
• Inside Higher Ed / June 10
  Colleges in Republicans’ Crosshairs Enroll a Sliver of U.S. College Students
  “Ninety of the 4,000 colleges and universities have had protests on their campuses, and yet they’re presented as the norm and as what’s happening on college and university campuses,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• Inside Higher Ed / May 22
  Third Antisemitism Hearing Could Further Disrupt Higher Ed
  AAC&U said that Congress is using campus responses to the Israel-Hamas war “as a pretext to exert political pressure on college and university leaders to restrict academic freedom and freedom of expression.”
• Campus Technology / May 15
  AAC&U Forms Office of Research and Public Purpose
  The office, led by Ashley Finley, will focus on student career preparation, civic engagement, and well-being through collaborative research and campus programs.
• Inside Higher Ed / May 14
  Survey: Students Turn to Faculty for Career Advice
  New research from AAC&U, NACE, and SEE shows how students and recent alumni look to their professors for help in their post-graduation plans.
• Inside Higher Ed / May 8
  Liberal Arts Microcredentials on the Rise
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella shares the competencies and dispositions employers increasingly seek in their employees.
• CNN / May 2
  Universities Employ Broad Range of Responses to Protests
  Campus leaders, balancing their obligation to defend freedom of expression while safeguarding their community, feel “moral distress” over “increased politicization” of higher ed, AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella tells CNN.
• The Chronical of Higher Education / May 2
  AI Detection in a Business. But Should It Be Faculty Business?
  In this op-ed, AAC&U Vice President Eddie Watson and Senior Scholar Jose Bowen—authors of Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning— discuss the increasing use of AI detection tools in academia.
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / May 2
  Study: More Collaboration Needed Between Faculty and Career Centers to Provide Workforce Preparation
  The study looked at responses from 6,800 college faculty to gauge the extent to which faculty play a role in students’ career journeys.
• The Forward / April 29
  'No divestment, no commencement': Students fear protests will upend their college graduations
  “There’s only so much you can control, even if you have policies that say we’re going to escort you out,” said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
• Inside Higher Ed / April 18
  Experts Largely Impressed with Shafik's Performance
  Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, told Inside Higher Ed after the House of Representatives’ Education and Workforce Committee hearing on antisemitism that Columbia University President Minouche Shafik may have adopted too hard a stance against faculty speech as Republican committee members grilled her on whether Columbia continued to employ professors who had made controversial statements supporting Hamas.
• Forbes / April 5
  Teaching with AI - What You Need to Know
  AAC&U Vice President Eddie Watson and Senior Scholar Jose Bowen are interviewed for this article that discusses the integration of AI in education, emphasizing the need for educators to approach AI with curiosity and caution.
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / April 5
  Investing in Community Colleges
  “[Gifts made to community colleges] have been truly transformative,” said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges & Universities. “Community colleges traditionally haven’t had large endowments. They don’t have graduates who have immediate wealth who can give back in the way that a place like Harvard or Yale might.”
• Inside Higher Ed / April 3
  Pluralism Conference Draws Campus Leaders Amid Israel-Gaza War
  Lynn Pasquerella, president of AAC&U, said in her opening remarks that the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel “sent shockwaves around the world” and thrust campuses into the international spotlight amid the student protests that followed.
• The Chronicle of Higher Education / March 21
  Race to the Finish
  “College should prepare students for success in work, citizenship, and life,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella. “I worry about the latter two when we abandon electives grounded in the liberal arts and sciences.”
• The Washington Post / March 18
  AAC&U Vice Chair Jonathan Alger Named President of American University
  Alger serves as vice chair of the AAC&U board of directors. AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella said that Alger “leads with compassion, transparency, integrity, authenticity, moral courage, and humor.”
• University Business / March 11
  Performance-Based Funding: The New Normal, or a Schtick?
  "It's no surprise that places like Penn State would be in support of [these models] because highly selective research institutions are the primary beneficiaries," AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella says. "They are not the ones that need the most help with performance."
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / March 4
  Outrage Continues Over University of Florida's Removal of DEI Roles
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella said restrictions on DEI greatly impede the ability of colleges and universities to advance their missions.
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / February 23
  Report: Growing Number of College Grads Earn Less Than the Typical H.S. Grad
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella noted that other research has shown that a college is “still the most reliable pathway to the middle class.
• Inside Higher Ed / February 22
  More Than Half of Recent 4-Year College Grads Underemployed
  AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella said that deeper goal is graduates “finding meaningful work, especially at a time when there are skyrocketing mental health issues among college students and graduates.”
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / February 5
  Higher Ed Officials Express Uncertainty Amid Further FASFA Delays
  “If deadlines for decisions are not changed, students and parents may feel coerced into making decisions in the absence of complete and adequate information,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• Forward / January 29
  No More Hostage Posters: Colleges Rewrite Rules on Speech Because of Israel-Hamas War
  “If free speech impedes another individual’s ability to learn, it’s a violation of that right to equal access,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• The World / January 28
  Professors Fear Creeping Authoritarianism in Academia Amid Harvard Fallout
  “We need to get beyond . . . the expectation that presidents are going to be thought leaders who publish in scholarly journals but don’t do much else,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• The Boston Globe / January 10
  The Impossible Role of University Presidents: 'Who would take this job in this day and age?'
  “People are reluctant to take on leadership roles when they recognize they will be attacked . . . because they are seen as part of a system that is un-American,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• Diverse: Issues in Higher Education / January 4
  Higher Ed Voices Outrage After Harvard President Resigns
  “I think this is a sign of governmental overreach into the autonomy of higher education,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.
• The Boston Globe / January 3
  Universities Nationwide Under Fire from Right-Wing Leaders Seeking 'a more traditional American society'
  "It’s a sad day for higher education when the pursuit of knowledge and truth is overshadowed by political agendas," said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.