The day after the 2016 US presidential election, a dean asked me whether we should send a campuswide email reminding students that the counseling center could help them through distress. Within a year, alumni asked our college president to speak out about federal policy changes that did not affect our campus. Later, students pleaded for the college’s social media accounts to condemn students whom they considered racist—without any investigation.
Expertise, Credentials, and the Value of the University
It seems we can’t trust our own credentials or those that we provide to our students. Or perhaps it would be better to say that we have so much confidence
Constance C. Relihan
May 18, 2026
