Challenges for Higher Ed

I feel that President Eisgruber ’83 is using his bully pulpit well. He has made many important statements, and I am pleased to see Princeton’s involvement with other colleges and universities (President’s Page, June 6). I agree with his message, but we need to be careful not to be, or appear to be, elitist. If higher education can maintain its resilience and be reasonably successful in meeting this challenge, can this trickle down to the large, important segment of the population that is not involved in higher education? These issues affect people across our society.

There are also concerns about the candidates for higher education. How prepared will they be to take advantage of their opportunities at Princeton and similar schools if their entire focus has been getting in and if their secondary education has been focused on product and not process? No one can solve all of these problems, but the risk is beyond higher education.