There is a lot of doom and gloom around higher ed these days.
And while the reasons to feel stressed or anxious or even downright panicked are so obvious as to feel redundant, there is good news. In fact, it’s great news: The same reasons that most people originally chose to work in higher education, those same underlying values of creating opportunity and access and advancing science, the humanities and, indeed, pretty much every aspect of human existence — all of those underlying motivating drivers still exist. And they are perhaps more relevant than ever.
So while there is a lot to be concerned about, the purpose of higher education hasn’t changed, and there remains much to be hopeful and passionate about.
We asked our community of regular Volt contributors to tell us why they are still passionate about working in higher education, what higher education means to them, and why they remain hopeful and optimistic about working, in one way or another, for colleges and universities.
Here’s what they told us.
Think about this as the new Higher Ed Optimism Manifesto.
Eddie Francis | Carrie Phillips | Jaime Hunt | Katelyn Mills-Erickson | Joseph Master
Todd Lineburger | Shane Baglini | Kevin Tyler
‘The Mission to Help Dreams Come True’
Regardless of the state of higher ed, one thing remains: Colleges and universities are where dreams come true. For example, despite their stark challenges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities continue to provide community and social mobility to students who tend to really need it. Even better, HBCUs serve as an example of higher ed spaces that continue to attract faculty, staff and administrators who simply want to do the work. Many an HBCU alum will tell you about a vice president who was like an uncle, a dining hall staffer who was like an aunt, and a faculty member who was like a parent.
To me, higher ed is about people, full stop. The missions that we work to satisfy and the good relationships that we build with our colleagues both on campus and around the industry can often keep us whole as individuals, while every commencement rejuvenates us. The mission to help dreams come true is my motivation, and it helps me “keep hope alive!” (as a famous North Carolina A&T State University graduate once said).
— Eddie Francis, Principal, Edify Ventures, LLC
‘A Pathway to Discovery’
My grandfather had only a middle school education and worked two jobs his entire life to support my grandmother, my dad, and my uncle. My dad wanted more. He became a first-generation college student and eventually earned a doctorate from an R1 university. Because of his education, the childhood I experienced was markedly different from his own. The biggest difference was education. It opened doors that otherwise would have remained closed.
That legacy of education shaped my own path. Hearing how it transformed my dad’s life and my family’s future inspired me to pursue my own degree and to search for work that mattered. When I earned my journalism degree, I believed my only options were to become a TV reporter or a newspaper writer. Yet through the higher education process, I discovered how flexible my degree could be and uncovered opportunities I had never imagined. Just as education opened doors for my dad, it opened them for me too. That discovery process is what makes higher education so transformative and so special.
— Carrie Phillips, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
‘Knowledge Will Endure’
In 1999, I crossed the stage in Northrup Auditorium at the University of Minnesota, becoming the first in my family to earn a bachelor’s degree. My parents always told me that education is the one thing no one can take from you, and that a degree would unlock doors closed to them and generations before us. They were right. Higher education has shaped the trajectory of my life, giving me a fulfilling career, a sense of purpose, a global network of colleagues, and a platform to make a difference.
Much of my career has been at access institutions — places that change not only individual lives, but entire communities. At commencement, I’ve watched parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles erupt with pride as their graduate claims the diploma that represents perseverance, grit, and possibility. Being part of that moment is a privilege I never take lightly. None of us should.
Yes, higher ed faces challenges. But our history is one of adaptation and resilience. We will evolve again and find new ways to open doors and ignite curiosity. I believe that as long as we hold fast to hope and put our hearts into the work, knowledge will endure, and good will prevail.
— Jaime Hunt, Founder and President, Solve Higher Ed Marketing
‘The Future Flows Like the Tide’
There’s a sense of excitement, of nerves and expectations, as thousands of new students begin to descend on campus in the fall. These students bring with them hopes and dreams and aspirations. It’s the first step to what’s next in their journey. That I play even a small role in their time on campus brings me joy. The future flows like the tide each year, pushing out graduates on to their next adventure and pulling in new students eager to achieve.
I joke with all new hires that we as staff continue to get older, but the students stay the same age. And there’s a magic in being present for this particular stage of life, even as you become farther removed from it. I cannot imagine a time when I will walk on to campus and not share the excitement of the life it contains.
— Katelyn Mills-Erickson, Communications Manager for New Students, University of Wisconsin-Madison
‘Changing Someone’s Life’
Sometimes the universe has a way of arranging the evidence before you’ve even written the argument. Recently, over the course of a single day, I experienced three moments that reminded me exactly why higher education still matters to me, and why my faith in its promise hasn’t wavered.
In the first, I was interviewing a professor with 40-plus years of service, I asked about their institution’s value to the world. To paraphrase their response: “Students contact me and ask me ‘Hey remember when I was an undergrad, and I came to your office? I’ll never forget what you told me.’ It’s like changing someone’s life,” he said. “And you don’t even know it in the moment. That’s the value.”
Then just minutes later, I received a LinkedIn message from a seasoned higher ed marcomm leader and mentor of mine who I hadn’t spoken to in more than a year. “Just checking in on you,” it said. “I hope you’re writing.”
I told my wife about both of these moments last night—and how they reminded me of another moment I had with Lewis “Buddy” Nordan, a Southern Gothic writer I studied under at Pitt. Once, I asked Buddy how he could write about mermaids and fairies living in the swamps of the American South and trust that the reader will find the narrator reliable.
“If I ever thought about the reader,” he said, “I’d never write a word. Don’t convince the reader. Convince yourself.” That advice changed my life.
Higher ed isn’t something to defend in theory, because I have the honor of witnessing its value daily, in practice, over and over. It’s a gift.
— Joseph Master, Senior Vice President, Brand Management, Carnegie
‘We Keep Bouncing Back’
I love working in higher education for lots of reasons, like the astonishing discoveries, the positive impact on health and prosperity, and of course the friends I’ve made along the way. But maybe most of all I love its paradoxes.
Chaotic, decentralized, and utterly inefficient, higher education (and especially the liberal arts!) is always about to die off — the victim of technical training, online instruction, or the lure of dancing for clicks on a social media platform that simultaneously monetizes a nation’s personal data. And yet, we keep bouncing back.
Part of it surely is the ROI — higher lifetime earnings, on average, and a sense of fulfillment to go with it. But it’s more than that. It’s the paradox of acting like a fool for four (or five or six) years and realizing that somehow you’ve turned into an adult. It’s the paradox of studying something esoteric and finding that your skills in the marketplace are not only durable but exceptional. In the end, there will be no better-prepared mind for an AI future than a liberal-arts-educated mind. After all, great advances frequently have been driven by polymath geniuses — Benjamin Franklin, Marie Curie, Steve Jobs, and on and on. They all ranged broadly, and they all took flak for their unorthodox approaches to life and work.
When I look at the shambling, unfederated chaos that American higher education sometimes feels like, it gives me hope and makes me happier than I can say. Why? Because it’s our secret weapon.
— Todd Lineburger, Vice President for Communications and Marketing, Muhlenberg College
‘The Work We Do Changes Lives’
Every day, we wake up with a purpose. Whether we realize it or not, the work we do changes lives. As marketers and communicators, we don’t work directly with students every day. We don’t help them with their applications, we don’t counsel them directly about financial aid, and we don’t get the joy of releasing their admissions decisions. But with every student enrolled at an institution I serve, I know that, in some small way, the work my team and I have done has influenced that student’s decision to attend college, especially the institution I represent.
It’s something we often forget to reflect on in higher ed. The constant cycle of application deadlines, new recruitment efforts, fresh fundraising campaigns, and fires to put out can distract us from the real reason most of us choose to stay in this profession — connecting students to the life-changing possibilities of a college degree.
— Shane Baglini, Executive Director of Marketing and Branding, William & Mary
‘A Fierce Commitment to Curiosity’
I love the responsibility of working in higher education marketing. We have the privilege of telling the stories that help institutions shape minds and communities. We research, strategize, innovate, and measure all in the name of educating a populace, defending democracy, and broadening perspectives. As marketers, we have a duty to understand the urgency of the moment, maintain a fierce commitment to curiosity, and believe that evolution and innovation are absolutely possible — because the future of higher education is in our hands.
— Kevin Tyler, Consultant; Host of Volt’s Higher Voltage podcast
