Not Just the Arc, but the Architects: Justice, Scholarship, and the Power to Reimagine Higher Education

Abstract: In this presidential address commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), I contend that the moral arc of higher education does not bend toward justice without intentional, collective action. Drawing on personal narrative, historical analysis, and cultural metaphor, the address situates contemporary assaults on higher education including anti-intellectualism, anti-DEI legislation, constraints on academic freedom, and technological inequities within longer histories of anti-literacy laws and the politicization of knowledge. Also noted is how Artificial Intelligence is quickly changing higher education, bringing new innovations as well as challenges in equity, access, and ethics. Framed through the tradition of the griot, I advance scholarly creative expression as both a methodological and ethical intervention, positioning storytelling, art, and narrative as vital forms of knowledge production and resistance. Inspired by the principles of critical hope, the address calls on scholars and leaders to engage in truth-telling, mentorship, advocacy, and imaginative praxis. In a moment of profound retrenchment and possibility, I invite the field to move beyond documenting inequity toward co-creating more just, humane, and liberatory futures in higher education.