A Higher Education Conversation By aleta mayne
Colleges and universities play a vital role in contributing to society, perhaps more so now than ever before. As President Brian W. Casey has said in several speeches recently, it’s Colgate’s responsibility to prepare students to be reasoned thinkers before sending them out into the world. Our alumni are also doing meaningful work in academia, utilizing what they learned at Colgate and applying that knowledge as administrators at leading institutions nationwide. They’re shaping the next generation — and, at the same time, sorting out weighty issues like affordability, access, mental health, and the value of a degree (the number of students enrolling in U.S. colleges’ and universities’ undergraduate programs in spring 2022 was 662,000 fewer than the previous year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center). “We’re at a moment, a tipping point in education,” says Jeanne Follansbee ’78, who is a dean at Yale College and a vice chair of Colgate’s Board of Trustees. Colgate Magazine talked to Follansbee and eight other (out of approximately 2,000) alumni who are higher education professionals to learn more.
illustrations by peter james field
22 Colgate Magazine Autumn 2022
