Education systems worldwide are under unprecedented attack from political, economic, and cultural forces, a prominent American scholar warned on Wednesday, calling on Caribbean educators to champion the vital role of higher learning in shaping society’s future.
Associate Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, Dr Leonard Taylor, the director of the National Survey of Student Engagement, delivered the sobering message at the opening of the Caribbean Tertiary Level Personnel Association’s (CTLPA) annual regional conference at the Divi Southwinds Resort.
Dr Taylor said: “The work that you all do in your roles every day has tremendous impact that you will never get to experience. There’s so much impact that we will never get the privilege of understanding about the work that we do every day. What that also means is that we need to approach our work with a level of intention and a level of reverence because there’s so much that we will do every day to which we will never get to reap the benefits, but that work will echo throughout the lives of the students that we touch and the lives of the people that they touch throughout their lives.”
Against the backdrop of intensifying hostility against universities by the US government under President Donald Trump, he warned that the institutions traditionally seen as the bedrock of societal advancement, including colleges and universities, are increasingly under attack. These pressures, he said, are not only political and economic but cultural, with deep scepticism being cast on the value of higher learning—especially in fields outside science and technology.
Dr Taylor explained: “What we’re seeing right now, not just where I am, but in other places, is an attack on the institutions that have been the lifeblood of the advancement of society for so many years, decades, hundreds of years. These are the institutions who continue to advance civilisation, humanity, and society in a variety of different ways and not just in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics].
“[STEM] is also important . . . but we need people to make sure that our cars work and our planes fly, so on and so forth. We need poets, we need artists, and not just for what they produce, but the ways that they think.”
In sharing his personal academic journey, Dr Taylor recounted how he switched from mechanical engineering to communication arts, a pivot he described as “one of the most beautiful gifts education ever gave me”. That transition, he said, allowed him to become a translator between communities that often fail to understand or respect each other’s knowledge.
Taylor argued that one of the biggest barriers to moving higher education forward is the growing communication gap between academic disciplines and communities of learners.
“One of the greatest challenges we face is our inability to listen to, and learn from, people whose expertise and ways of knowing differ from our own,” he said. “The mark of a scholar isn’t just about how widely you share knowledge, but how effectively that knowledge lands on the communities you hope to impact.”
The Trump administration has implemented strict measures targeting US colleges, particularly by restricting foreign student enrolment through visa suspensions, increased scrutiny, and new barriers to entry. These actions, which included attempts to bar international students from top universities and heightened vetting processes, has sparked legal challenges and led to a notable decline in international student numbers. Critics say the policies threaten the financial health and global standing of American higher education. (SB)
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