- [Narrator] Support for this program provided by, Wayne and Sharon Smith, Dawn and Barbara Layden, Bill and Rita Barker, and then following.

(upbeat retro music) ♪ Mm-bah-dah ♪ ♪ Dum-dum-bah-beh ♪ ♪ Doo-ba-dum-ba-beh-Beh ♪ ♪ Pressure ♪ - Today, presidents are under pressures of all sorts and from all fronts.

Presidents are under pressure to maintain a semblance of normalcy on campus, play to different constituencies.

My name is Dr. James Cousins, I'm Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

It would've been impossible for the first generations of American college presidents to foresee the unique pressures put on college and university presidents in the 21st Century.

- Absolutely the responsibility of education is to broaden people's view, to open new perspectives, to give people appreciation for things they could not appreciate, or did not appreciate going into it.

There's no question about that.

I'm Mike Martin, and I'm proud to be the president, Florida Gulf Coast University.

(upbeat rock music) ♪ I want to fly like an eagle ♪ ♪ To the sea ♪ ♪ Fly like an eagle ♪ ♪ Let my spirit carry me ♪ ♪ I want to fly ♪ - [Narrator 2] On the shores of the sunshine state, sits Florida Gulf Coast University.

President Mike Martin, and experts in the field, are discussing changes in higher education.

By examining it's history, the evolution of presidential responsibilities, the role of the trustees, and of the public itself, we might better comprehend it's role in the future, during a time where it undergoes profound change.

We'll learn about its history, and look at challenges impacting its mission for the future.

We'll find out the low down on higher-ed.

(upbeat funky music) - In the Precolonial Era and the Colonial Era, what you saw were institutions that catered to privileged, white, male, landowners, and education was more about validation of social status.

As education evolved throughout the 17th and 18th century, it kept a lot of the veneer of elite status, but adopted other qualities.

So, higher education shifted throughout the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th century, and it'll continue to shape and be transformed in the 21st.

And the shape of that transformation is really led by access.

Moving from elite education, education by elites, for elites, to something much more accessible, something more democratized.

And, leading that change has been the public.

Public access, and the public's wills and wants.

- Here's what we gotta do.

We gotta transform individual lives, so they'll transform a greater society.

- [Vintage Narrator] But nowadays, almost every adult agrees on one basic goal for all students.

- School's oughta turn out good citizens.

- Yes, good citizens.

- That's right.

- Absolutely, this country always needs good citizens.

- [Narrator 2] Noble as that sounds, higher-ed has no only become massive in its proportions, it is now tackling fundamental issues that threaten its very structure.

Financial considerations, the effects of a global health crisis, and political interference, are all coloring the way institutions are governed, and how they will shape future leaders.

Gone are the days where universities operated as gilded halls, its leaders unquestionable.

Skepticism, scandal, and social division are all effecting how universities respond.

- So COVID was a watershed moment in higher education, there's no doubt about that, and what it's done is really ramp up certain pressures on higher education, it's exposed others, and, higher education has shifted and bent in response to it.

(upbeat retro music) - The question how to navigate may be the most challenging question that has come up in my career.

Because, the more you try to pound your perspective on this thing, the more people will try to undermine it.

Jonas Salk came along, and in 1954, produced a vaccine that ended a scourge that had been on this planet for centuries.

And people celebrated that and got in line, and every year at school, you had to line up and get your shot, and no one came in a protested, and no one went to the school board and said, "We're not gonna do it."

It was expected, and now, it's the hottest debate in town.

- [Narrator 2] Although college campuses have been incubators of free thought and innovation, COVID has presented challenges to the fundamental beliefs of science, safety, and personal choice.

- What kind of behavior do you call this?

- Out of this also come a cynicism towards science, that comes out of a university.

So, people got very suspect of what used to be considered to be the most fundamental truth that science produced.

Now people want to debate scientific reality.

♪ Science ♪ John Prine wrote a song, you may recall, "It don't make no sense when common sense don't make no sense no more", right?

♪ It don't make much sense that common sense ♪ ♪ Don't make no sense no more ♪ - [Narrator 2] Making sense of COVID was not the only challenge facing Martin and other academic leaders.

The past few years have seen a clash between the original mission of education.

The history upon which it was founded, and its mission in a modern society.

- After World War II, higher education shifted again, it became something much different.

Something much more focused on accessibility.

And, veteran accessibility, accessibility of women, and non-whites, and continues to shift, and continues to grow towards something that is more universal.

- I think higher education's commitment to being more inclusive, to focusing on issues about diversity, inclusion, and equity, it is a life-long process.

It's not gonna go away.

- [Narrator 2] Sailing into this uncertain future are students at Sarasota's new college, helmed by President Patricia Okker.

(upbeat retro music) - And, if we don't expose them to people who are different than they are, who have different perspective, different viewpoints, different experiences, who look different than they are, we are not preparing them for the workforce in which they will have to have those kinds of conversations.

- And that's a question that higher education can't ignore, as demographics shifts, and traditional, sort of, populations move out of higher educations, and other move in, what are institutions doing to accommodate those shifts?

- Can we spearhead social change?

Yes.

Do we need addition support to do that?

Yes.

Is it needed?

Yes.

I think it's obvious that education afforded many students, a means of upward mobility.

We realize that, we know that that's our role, we know that that's why they enter higher education, for that upward mobility.

I understand it all too well from my background, (laughing) where I came from.

- [Narrator 2] That background, tracing its roots to a vibrant Cajun community in Louisiana, helps Dr. Llorens reflect on today's educational environment.

As the former Chancellor of Southern University, one of the country's historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs.

- They gotta be sensitive to the diversity, equity and inclusion issues, they gotta be honest, intellectually as well as personally.

- [Vintage Narrator] For respect is a more desirable, more desirable behavior than fear.

- [Narrator 2] Helping experts understand what faces higher education is the industry's standard publication, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Perhaps no other journal has been more helpful in these changing times.

Shaping ideas, presenting facts, and showcasing the pressures facing educators.

- One of the issues we have when we talk about a reformation in higher education, is that we have a whole variety of ways of doing things.

I think education is going to be changing in a lot of ways.

I'm Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, former president of George Washington University.

- [Narrator 2] Trachtenberg, a well-known scholar and author of several books on higher-ed, has been following the trends presented in The Chronicle and elsewhere.

He's aware of recent scandals and disagreements at the university level.

Issues of free speech, curricular choices, and the role of professors as representatives of their institutions, have him reflecting on the pressures facing those in charge.

- [Vintage Narrator] Now, as never before, American education is challenged to help prepare the new generation for the vital business of acting as free individuals in a free society.

♪ Politics ♪ ♪ Politics, yeah ♪ - Universities are not isolated, or don't have walls around them, that separates them from the issues.

I can't imagine a university worthy of the name, that wasn't political.

Politics is a reflection of what we care about.

The social issues, the religious issues, the ethical issues.

- Politics have always been a part of higher education, and education in general, and they've always been a lightning rod for controversy, and today is really no different from what you've seen over the last two or three centuries, really.

- So, we see a division in the country now, because the country is undergoing tremendous changes.

We're seeing extraordinary demographic changes.

As the racial and religious aspects of a country are transformed, so is the nation, and people are concerned about that, and people are apprehensive.

- All politicians are crooked.

Everything's fixed.

- What are your facts, Harold?

- We just know, that's all.

Everybody knows it.

- And part of it comes back to the conversation we're having about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

To be a role model, to be an activist, for the right conduct, and to hold ourselves to that standard.

(phone ringing) - I'm learning a lot about Florida politics, and how the legislature works, and I have a lot to learn about that, I'm excited to do so, I see a lot of opportunities of working with legislative leaders, but I know there are things I need to learn about Florida politics.

- Free speech on college campuses has been an issue for decades, obviously, with the tumultuous '60s and '70s.

But, what you've seen, I think, more recently, is the evolution of social media, and the prevalence of social media, and the ability of anyone to voice an opinion, and to sort of, make news and catch fire.

Recent court cases are, you know, something that I don't think anyone would've anticipated before, but presidents are forced to deal with these in real time.

- I'm not sure I could do it.

- Oh, sure you can.

- [Narrator 2] Questioning whether they can do it, is a luxury not afforded today's presidents and administrators.

Forging harmony, while mediating conflict, is an added pressure to leading a college or university.

- Presidents are under pressure to attract donor support, philanthropic support, to hold at bay industrial influences, and governmental influences, while maintaining a semblance of normalcy on college campuses.

They're under pressure to be social champions and social advocates, they're under pressure to maintain quality of consistent care for students.

- We've only had one mission, transform individual lives, so they'll transform the greater society.

That's what we do.

The minute you stop thinking about that, getting up every morning and remembering that that's what we do, and getting into other stuff, "Oh, I gotta raise a billion dollars", or whatever the hell it is, the minute you get off of that, you get wandering into the morass that can eat you up.

(retro rock music) - Obviously, I had to concentrate on fundraising, and that's the job of a college president.

Mike Macdowell, President of Misericordia University in Pennsylvania.

When I came to Misericordia, the institution had gone through some difficult times, and so they were financially not in great shape.

Goes without saying, it's not an easy job, mainly because people shy away from you whenever you go to meet them.

They think you're gonna put your hands in their pockets.

- Took money from many people who I didn't like particularly, or I wouldn't have gone out of my way to have dinner with them privately, but if they and I had a shared agenda, and they wanted to contribute money to something I was working on behalf of, I was glad to put it to work.

- Today, presidents are under pressure to generate as much donor support as they can, be it from federal funding agencies, private independent donors, foundations, or the public at large.

Those pressures have grown substantially over the last few decades, as state funding has fell off.

- In many instances, poverty in our community must be addressed along with the equality in the educational offering.

Now, you know, the poverty at home is definitely gonna impact what happens in the classroom.

- So, I assume that somebody comes in and offers me money, that they've got some agenda, and generally you work that out.

- You get people who think that universities are way too liberal, and we're not gonna support them, not only financially, but in many other ways, or you get individuals who think that the university is not moving quickly enough.

- [Vintage Narrator] The public continues to expect certain immediate results from our schools.

- Whatever else my children ought to know when and where important events happen, teach 'em the facts.

- In my opinion, make 'em strong and healthy.

- My kid has to do better than me.

- Why, they outta be taught to read and write good English.

- [Narrator 2] The confluence of money and politics, is something historian cousins sees as a result of education becoming more accessible, and more schools competing for research dollars, and available funds.

This new reality is causing schools to regroup and pause.

- Now just a minute, folks.

- More recently, competition among higher education, institutions of higher education, has really forced those questions out into the open, and those questions have also become politicized by state, and local, and federal government officials who want to hold higher education accountable.

♪ Rah, rah, rah, rah, sis boom bah ♪ ♪ Rah, rah, rah, rah, sis boom bah ♪ ♪ Rah, rah, rah, rah, sis boom bah ♪ - [Narrator 2] Being true to the mission of one's school was front and center recently, when numerous University of Florida professors were barred from testifying in a case challenging voting laws enacted by the governor.

Public outcry led to the university to reverse its decision, but the case exemplifies the way politics can interfere with the exchange of ideas.

- That particular situation in Florida, where six political science faculty were asked to comment on regulations in the state about voting, and apparently the university determined that they should not comment, because after all, we're a state owned institution, and the state has passed this law, and you're asking us to comment on it.

That is a breach of academic freedom, which was not gonna go unnoticed.

- Frankly, it's very troubling.

In terms of the things that are being presented in Florida right now.

If the proposed regulations are adopted, think there would be a strong backlash from faculty and administrators.

There's a questionnaire that was done, I think the questionnaire is obviously designed to provide the governor with support to impose restrictions on course materials and instruction.

And I think therein lies a very significant problem.

There's a possibility that these actions result into an exodus.

- Today, university presidents are under significant pressure, and that pressure has been built up over the centuries.

The expectations that went into the first university and college presidents were significant, but limited to the interests of their localities, their towns, their cities, and their denominations.

And over the centuries, those pressures have increased.

- [Vintage Narrator] Facts were learned better and remembered longer, because they were related to very real, everyday problems.

- [Narrator 2] Real, everyday problems will arise, if the past few years are any indication, and as challenges continue, they illuminate the mission higher-ed must pledge to adapt for the future.

What is education supposed to be like in the 21st century?

(retro rock music) - We have to find a way to deliver course content in a matter that would allow students to grasp the critical knowledge that they needed, and had to be absorbed, and retained, in order to prepare them for the next level of instructions.

- Critical thinking based upon facts is very important.

- It's so interesting to ask the historian to comment on the future.

The past is always prologue.

And how do we increase diversity and inclusion of folks that have never been included in university before?

- The first and foremost is, that at a university, you celebrate differences, not sameness.

And, that's why it's called a university and not a monoversity, or a biversity, right?

There's a reason we call ourselves this.

And part of it is exactly that, the fascination in life isn't sameness, it's differences, and celebrating it, and engaging it, and appreciating it.

So, first of all, that's a fundamental reality.

I don't think any society can advance unless we try to give every individual in that society a chance to become all they can become.

Every one of 'em deserves that as a human right, and the point is, to lead a great university, you've got to be willing to stand and say, these are the things we really care about.

- So we see a division in the country now, because the country is undergoing tremendous changes.

We're seeing extraordinary demographic changes, there are heated debates on university campuses.

- Think education is making a move toward, somewhat of an egalitarian educational system at all levels.

And when we talk about it in terms of higher-ed, those schools are more diverse, and that in itself, I think, will lead to social change in terms of those students getting the opportunity to get the education they need at that level to advance.

- [Narrator 2] The ability to advance is always front of mind for educators.

From its earliest days, education has sought to shape ideas, and offer perspective.

As we move through the 21st century, it must be up for the challenge.

Yet, unlike its early days, higher-ed must now consider a wider range of obstacles.

- And it's a challenge.

Sometimes, that burden that they have limits their ability to pursue advanced degrees, pursue specialized training, a geographic relocation becomes difficult for them.

And all this limits the options available, I think, to advance socially and economically.

- [Vintage Narrator] America's youth, Our next generation, must be prepared to help build their futures.

- Clearly, among the most profound topics we're taking up now, obviously the pandemic has caused us all to change some of our conversation, but the longer, sort of, on going challenges include, as has been suggested, this balance between trying to fund a university, and maintain your principles and your ethics.

Not find yourself trapped by, as some people would say, "selling out" to donors or other influencers, including legislators and governors.

- Let's see where we made our mistakes.

The problem was this.

- [Narrator 2] The problem is not recognizing how looking at the history of education in America might better inform us as the world changes.

Even during periods of crisis, higher-ed can rise to the challenges it needs to be the shaper of future generations.

As Florida Gulf Coast University celebrates its 25th anniversary, it does so with a realistic view of its mission.

(retro rock music) ♪ Tick-Tock, do, do, do, do, do ♪ ♪ Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' ♪ ♪ Into the future ♪ - I hope FGCU will continue to grow and be a asset to this community.

- I think all universities need to rethink what their mission is, and I think education is going to be changing in a lot of ways.

- Well the values in the institution are terribly important.

Unless the head of that institution practices those values, people bring it into question.

I mean, that's just simple, and it's true of all institutions.

The right thing to do is to be up front to move forward.

- I want to see the day that this is the criteria we pursue, the day in which every citizen, no matter who they are, who lives in Southwest Florida, has a reason to be glad we're here.

- Well, the future lies ahead.

And, if I could read the future, I would be a rich man, because I would know what to do when I went to the horse races.

- That's what's kept me involved in this environment, and in this adventure for myself for five decades, but the bottom line is everyday I come here, I learn something.

♪ I wanna fly like an eagle ♪ ♪ To the sea ♪ ♪ Fly like an eagle, ♪ ♪ Let my sprit carry me ♪ ♪ I want to fly like an eagle ♪ ♪ Till I'm free ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord through the revolution ♪ ♪ I wanna fly like an eagle ♪ ♪ To the sea ♪ ♪ Fly like an eagle ♪ ♪ Let my spirit carry me ♪ ♪ I want fly like eagle ♪ ♪ Till I'm free ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, through the revolution ♪ - [Narrator] Support for this program is provided by, Wayne and Sharon Smith, Don and Barbara Layden, Bill and Rita Barker, and the following.