April 23, 2025 – Campus Update and Webinar Invitation

Friends in the Davidson Community,

We are in the home stretch of this academic year. Students are finishing assignments and collaborating with faculty and staff mentors to present capstone projects and plan meaningful summer experiences. Just last week, at Convocation, we celebrated tremendous student achievements across classrooms, labs, stages and athletic fields. In brief, we are embracing our educational purpose and are about to send 500 extraordinary Wildcats into the world as graduates.

Meanwhile, a lot is happening in higher education at a time when what we hear and see from Washington changes daily. You may be reading reports from many sources, and I want the college to be at the top of that list. I’m writing to update you about recent developments.

At Davidson, we have been thoughtful about when and how we speak up on issues affecting higher education, and I have always done so from the starting point of the values that we at Davidson embrace and seek to practice. Davidson’s Commitment to Freedom of Expression affirms our obligation to uphold free speech, free inquiry, and academic freedom. Our college’s Statement of Purpose commits Davidson to choose “those studies, disciplines and activities that are mentally, spiritually and physically liberating.” As a liberal arts college grounded in the Reformed Tradition, our college must have the independence to determine our curriculum as well as our policies and practices that allow us to achieve strong student outcomes. 

In its historic 1967 Kalven Report commissioned by then-president George Beadle, faculty leaders at The University of Chicago urged higher education leaders not to comment on political and social matters. They included, however, an important caveat:

“From time to time instances will arise in which the society, or segments of it, threaten the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry. In such a crisis, it becomes the obligation of the university as an institution to oppose such measures and actively to defend its interests and its values."

This is one of those moments. I have signed a letter, along with leaders from more than 250 other colleges and universities—schools that are public and private, from small community colleges to research powerhouses—in which we call for constructive engagement among higher education leaders, government officials, and the public. Our campuses and our sector of society are imperfect—as is every human institution. We can improve on our practices of welcoming students, staff, and faculty from all parts of the world, from every background, and from every perspective. However, we stand against governmental intrusion. Read the letter.

I have also continued to meet with other college and university leaders, including attending a summit on “Restoring Trust in Higher Education” in Dallas convened by the chancellors of Vanderbilt and Washington University in St. Louis, as well as numerous virtual meetings of College Presidents for Civic Preparedness, a group I joined last summer. Collectively, U.S. institutions educate 19 million college students each year, and we are redoubling our commitment to preparing people for engaged citizenship and a productive workforce.

I am very aware that our community of students, faculty and staff, alums, parents, and friends is comprised of people with disparate backgrounds and beliefs. We share a common commitment, however, to the value of higher education—specifically, in the power of a Davidson education to change lives for the better. And we share a belief in free inquiry and the quest for truth. These are our shared principles that underlie this letter.

I’d like to speak directly with our campus community and our broader Davidson College community and answer your questions. We have organized two Zoom webinars with Q&A: one for our students and employees, and another for any Davidson member, whether you live or work on campus or are a parent, alum, donor, or friend. The information and links to register are below. 

I hope you will be able to join me on Zoom. We are a strong community of over 30,000 Davidsonians and we have a lot to celebrate together as a community devoted to being a force for good.

 Thank you for all that you do for Davidson College.

Doug Hicks '90
President