The Fifth Pillar: Where Higher Ed Goes from Here

American universities—among the most powerful forces for democracy, discovery, and human understanding in history—are facing an unprecedented authoritarian assault, and the old playbook for defending them is no longer enough. This assault crystallizes the need for radical re-imagination of how we situate higher education in a broader ecosystem and in a democratic society. Lee Bollinger, Columbia University President Emeritus, argues in his new book University: A Reckoning that universities function as a fifth pillar of American democracy and that building a durable defense requires embedding that principle in law, institutional culture, and the public imagination.

The Alliance for Higher Education, a new organization uniting the democracy and higher education spheres and the event co-host, has that same goal. Along with Bollinger, this conversation will bring together education policy scholars Dominique Baker and Kevin Carey to examine what this moment demands from institutions, policymakers, and advocates—from legal strategies and campus leadership to questions of equity and access that a reimagined higher education system must address. Moderated by Alliance President and CEO Mike Gavin, the conversation will move beyond crisis response to ask the harder question: Where does higher education go from here?

There will be ample time for Q&A, followed by light refreshments after the event.