Magazine Reflections

Overheard at AAC&U’s 2023 Annual Meeting

Spring 2023

“The question comes down to, How do you live a good life in the absence of a good society?”
—Lynn Pasquerella, American Association of Colleges and Universities

“Nobody ever won anything by being quiet. . . . So, if silence wins us nothing, speech gives at least the possibility of success.”
—G. Gabrielle Starr, Pomona College

“We have to reclaim the liberal ideal, the ideal of liberal democracy—that will have to come before we actually get to the point of reclaiming liberal education. We have a much larger problem than I ever thought we could have.”
Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University

“How do we engage with the children who come from families who despise us?”
—Robert Fried, New American Baccalaureate Project

“When I see what’s underrepresented in technology, I see the faces of my students. Let’s make sure we are creating leaders to enter this digital space.”
—Jackie Slaton, Georgia State University

“The student mental health crisis is really affecting faculty because there are now so many more things they are trying to do to support students.”
—Brett Christie, Alchemy

“We need to have conversations about hope.”
—Mike Flores, Alamo College

“If the humanities are not helpful to us in confronting the most pressing matters of our time, what good are they?”
—Andrew Delbanco, Columbia University

“Learning how to fail and seeing failure not as an end point but a beginning is something we do in this class.”
—Ted Hadzi-Antich Jr., Austin Community College

“One does not need to be the mirror reflection of a tall White man to be a leader. I am an effective leader because of my marginality.”
—Mary Dana Hinton, Hollins University

Image credits: Rami Niemi (illustration); iStock (bubbles)

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