“The first step is to remind our students and colleagues that those who hold views contrary to one’s own are rarely evil or stupid, and may know or understand things that we do not. It is only when we start with this assumption that rational discourse can begin, and that the winds of freedom can blow." – Former Stanford Provost John Etchemendy
FEATURED ITEMS
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President Levin’s Opening Remarks to the Faculty Senate (April 10, 2025)
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“The Labels That Divide Us” (video), Monica Harris, Executive Director of the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR).
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From Our Latest Newsletter​
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"To Be True To The Best You Know" -- Jane Stanford
October 20, 2025
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The ‘Best’ Colleges Aren’t the Best Forever
Excerpts (links in the original):
“For decades, higher education seemed immune to market forces, as families stretched to pay almost any price for a top-ranked college. Prestige was seen as synonymous with enduring value: Harvard would always be Harvard, Yale would always be Yale, followed by the Northwesterns and the Cornells, with aspirants such as the University of Southern California and Northeastern further down the ladder. But with sticker prices surging and graduates facing a tough job market, many parents have begun to question whether prestige alone is worth the price. As reputation loses some of its grip on the marketplace, colleges are moving up and down the list more than ever....
“Nowadays, more than 80 percent of families with a six-figure income cross a college off their list at some point because of its cost. Only 61 percent did so in the mid-2010’s, when six figures went further....
“Driving this trend is a so-called panicking class of parents -- mostly in Gen X but also older Millennials -- who fear their kids won’t be able to replicate their lifestyle in affluent American cities and suburbs. The sticker price of college has doubled in the past 20 years, and student debt covers much of the increase. Parents know the road to adulthood is longer than in previous generations, and as a result, they’ll need to support their kids well into their 20s. And with AI threatening to displace many entry-level jobs, some families are wondering whether a prestigious degree is still a solid insurance policy....
“Prestige in higher education has long favored the incumbents at the top of the rankings. But the more that families steer their decisions elsewhere, the less secure those incumbents will become. One student described his acceptance to Columbia in 2023 as akin to winning the lottery. But once he arrived on campus, he told me, the high wore off quickly. A class he wanted to take had a waitlist so long that he wouldn’t get in until he was a junior or senior, if at all. A professor he’d hoped to do research with didn’t allow undergraduates to work in his lab. The core curriculum was a grind, and the competition to get into clubs was intense.
“He told me that he was so enamored with the brand name that he hadn’t taken the time to consider what he really wanted out of his undergraduate experience: finding great friends and working closely with faculty, without constantly clawing for the next thing. After a year at Columbia, he transferred to the University of Minnesota, some 40 spots lower in the rankings. He told me he finds his courses just as challenging as at Columbia, he gets to work in a research lab, and his classmates are more welcoming -- and his tuition has been cut in half.”
Full op-ed by Arizona State Prof. Jeffrey Selingo at The Atlantic.
See also “The Missing Puzzle Piece of Higher Education” at Minding the Campus: “From the student perspective, greater than three quarters felt the first six months of their post-graduation job taught them more than their entire four years spent at university.”
Other Articles of Interest
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SOME GOOD NEWS RE FREE SPEECH AND CRITICAL THINKING:
Stanford's ePluribus Project
Full description at Stanford.
See also ePluribus Programs and Campus Programs.
USC’s Open Dialogue Project
Full description at USC.
Yale's Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech
Full description at Yale.
SOME NOT GOOD NEWS:
Elite Schools Like MIT Are Hardly Free Markets for Ideas
Full op-ed at City Journal.
Columbia’s ‘Listening Table’ Band-Aid Can’t Heal Institutional Rot
Full op-ed by Stanford alum and Sarah Lawrence Prof. Samuel J. Abrams at Minding the Campus.
Higher Education Fails at Collective Action
Full editorial at Science Magazine.
ALSO IN THE NEWS:
Prominent Faculty Comment on the Proposed Government Compact
Full op-ed by Princeton Prof. Robert P. George, U Chicago Prof. Tom Ginsburg, Yale Prof. Robert Post, U Texas Prof. David Rabban and Harvard Prof. Jeannie Suk Gerson at Substack.
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But see also “The Sweetheart Deal Is Over for Academia” at Washington Post.
Can Educators Focus on Connection Rather Than Grades?
Full op-ed at UC Berkeley Greater Good Magazine: “An educator made a small change to the way she gave feedback on assignments, with big results for students' engagement and confidence.”
What the First Amendment Doesn’t Protect When It Comes to Professors Speaking Out on Politics
Full op-ed by U Kentucky Prof. Neal H. Hutchens and U Louisville Prof. Jeffrey C. Sun at The Conversation.
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Samples of Current Teaching, Research and Other Activities at Stanford
Click on each article for direct access; selections are from Stanford Report and other Stanford websites.
Saw, Sword, or Shovel: AI Spots Functional Similarities Between Disparate Objects
New Report Urges Critical Action to Address Growing Biosecurity Risks
Regular Cannabis Use Poses Risks to Those Over 65
Generative AI Is Helping Stanford Researchers Better Understand Brain Diseases
Contemplation By Design Initiative Teaches Students to Rest​
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“Education should not be intended to make people comfortable, it is meant to make them think. Universities should be expected to provide the conditions within which hard thought, and therefore strong disagreement, independent judgment, and the questioning of stubborn assumptions, can flourish in an environment of the greatest freedom.” -- Chicago Principles for Freedom of Expression, quoting former U Chicago President Hanna Holborn Gray
Comments and Questions from Our Readers
See more reader comments on our Reader Comments webpage.
Need Dialog, Not Prohibitions
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I suggest the university produce forums in which ultimate concerns about war and peace presently unfolding be formally debated, subject to the rules of decorum. This is what the university is for, not prohibitions on argument or advocacy. Silence renders learning impossible.
Hoping for Balanced Speech at Stanford
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I am so in support of the opinions expressed here and hope Stanford will adopt a more balanced approach to free speech. I can only hope.
Teaching Young People and Others How to Disagree Civilly
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While I believe that supporting free speech is very important in and of itself, I also believe that there is a related component that is often ignored. That component is teaching people, especially young people, how to disagree civilly/how to constructively respond to free speech they might not agree with.
Question About Ties to the Alumni Association
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Q. I notice that the SAA website contains no links to the Stanford Alumni for Free Speech and Critical Thinking website. Why is that?
A. Our website is not linked at the SAA website since we intentionally did not seek to become an affiliate of SAA. Among other things, we wanted to maintain independence, including since SAA became a subsidiary of
the university in the mid-1990’s. That said, there are a number of current and former Stanford administrators and trustees who receive our Newsletters and read the materials that are posted at the website.
About Us
Member, Alumni Free Speech Alliance
Stanford Alumni for Free Speech and Critical Thinking is an independent, diverse, and nonpartisan group of Stanford alumni committed to promoting and safeguarding freedom of thought and expression, intellectual diversity and inclusion, and academic freedom at Stanford.
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We believe innovation and positive change for the common good is achieved through free and active discourse from varying viewpoints, the freedom to question both popular and unpopular opinions, and the freedom to seek truth without fear of reprisal from those who disagree, within the confines of humanity and mutual respect.
Our goal is to support students, faculty, administrators, and staff in efforts that assure the Stanford community is truly inclusive as to what can be said in and outside the classroom, the kinds of speakers that can be invited, and what should always be the core principles of a great university like Stanford. We also advocate that Stanford incorporates the Chicago Trifecta, the gold standard for freedom of speech and expression at college and university campuses, and that Stanford abides by these principles in both its policies and its actions.
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