On July 1, 2026, I moved to emeritus status after teaching at Cornell for 58 years. The values I treasure, including the educational values which shaped my teaching, are under existential threat every day from the Trump administration. 

For Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, the role of colleges is to ”advance American security interests, deliver academic programs that meet urgent work force needs, and contribute materially to the nation’s prosperity.”

Reflecting the current administration, McMahon’s objectives do not speak to the development of individuals but to the macrocosmic needs of the state. Authoritarian governments focus on the needs and desires of the state, while regarding universities as possible sites of annoying dissent. Such governments worry that clusters of students and professors are undermining their goals of complete control over every aspect of life. 

In contrast, for me each student matters not as part of a national purpose but as an individual whose curiosity, knowledge, skill set and confidence will sustain her or him after graduation. Our job as college professors and senior administrators is to create a space for possibility and opportunity to flourish so that each of our students can fulfill her or his potential in terms of learning and personal development. The college experience includes students learning from others when participating in extracurricular activities — sports, theatre, musical groups, journalism — and when making lifetime friendships. 

While striving for merit-oriented admission, we also know that we have a plethora of able........

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