FIRE on Campus Leadership and the Defense of Open Inquiry
Release Date: 02/17/2026
Scaling Higher Education: An Entrepreneurial Approach to a Consolidating Market
Changing Higher Ed
Scaling higher education is no longer a theoretical strategy. As the sector moves deeper into consolidation, institutional leaders need to confront whether their operating models, credential structures, partnerships, and delivery systems are built for the market ahead. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how an entrepreneurial mindset can help higher education respond to consolidation, AI disruption, and changing learner expectations. Drawing from his experience as co-founder of Jiffy Lube International and president of one of the nation’s leading entrepreneurship institutions,...
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Why College Presidents Need a Coalition for Civic Preparedness
Changing Higher Ed
Civic preparedness in higher education can no longer be treated as an assumed byproduct of a college education. In this episode of the , speaks with , president of the , about how colleges and universities can rebuild the civic skills students need to navigate disagreement, evaluate credible information, and solve problems across difference. Drawing on his work with college presidents, faculty, employers, and Gen Z leaders, Vinnakota explains why higher education has drifted too far toward a private-good narrative focused almost entirely on jobs and individual outcomes. He makes the case that...
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International Enrollment Strategy: Taking Higher Education to the World
Changing Higher Ed
International student enrollment in the United States reached record highs in 2024–2025, followed by a sharp and uneven decline heading into 2025–2026. While top-tier institutions continue to attract global talent, regional and private institutions are facing growing pressure as visa restrictions, geopolitical dynamics, and shifting perceptions of the U.S. reshape the enrollment landscape. In this episode of the , speaks with Executive Director of UC Berkeley’s International House, about how institutions must rethink international enrollment strategy in response to these structural...
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Higher Ed Technology Change Management and Digital Transformation
Changing Higher Ed
Higher education's track record with technology change is uneven for a reason, and the reason is rarely the technology. It is whether leadership treats that runs from planning through sustainment, or as a rollout activity bolted on at the end. In this episode of the podcast, speaks with , Chief Strategy Officer at , about why technology projects in higher education succeed or fail on the strength of leadership behavior rather than tooling. Drawing on 23 years working with universities, nonprofits, and foundations, including Stanford and UC Davis, Toguchi explains how the institutions...
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Building Workforce Readiness Through Real Startup Experience
Changing Higher Ed
Most institutions offer experiential learning. Few deliver it. The gap between the claim and the outcome is structural, and closing it requires more than a better course design. In this episode of the , speaks with , a for-credit startup incubator operating at eight universities, about what it actually takes to produce the depth of learning that institutions advertise but rarely achieve. Drawing on his experience founding and selling a technology company to Walmart, leading the entrepreneur center at Brigham Young University, and building Sandbox across multiple institutions, Crittenden...
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2026 Title IV Changes and How Higher Education Can Adapt to the OBBBA
Changing Higher Ed
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is changing higher education in ways many institutions still have not fully accounted for. Title IV loan limits change on July 1, 2026. Accreditation reform is next. Together, those developments are forcing institutions to confront graduate funding pressure, cost structure, program design, student demand, and the pace of institutional change. In this episode of the podcast, speaks with and one of three higher education representatives on the 2025 Negotiated Rulemaking RISE Committee, about how OB3 is changing higher education and what...
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Inside Neg Reg and the 2026 Higher Ed Changes
Changing Higher Ed
Higher education has spent years hearing that affordability, student debt, and public skepticism are putting pressure on colleges and universities. What is different now is that those pressures are shaping federal action in ways that will directly affect Title IV funding, graduate program financing, accreditation reform, and institutional decision-making before July 1, 2026. In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with and one of three higher education representatives on the 2025 , about what the latest Neg Reg signals for colleges and universities and why institutions that have...
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Aligning Education & Work: The 2026 Lumina-Gallup Employer Report
Changing Higher Ed
New data from shows that employers still value college degrees — but have serious concerns about whether graduates are ready to use them. In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with about what 2,000 employers told Gallup about higher education, why public confidence in colleges has collapsed from 60% to one-third of Americans in a decade, and what institutional leaders must do about it. Brown also discusses Lumina's new national goal: 75% of Americans in the labor force holding a credential of economic value by 2040, up from a current baseline of 43%. Topics Covered: ...
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AI Can Fill The Vessel. Can Colleges Still Light The Fire?
Changing Higher Ed
AI in higher education is no longer just a technology issue. The larger question is whether colleges and universities will redesign learning so students develop judgment, critical thinking, and decision-making skills in a world where AI can already generate summaries, essays, and plausible answers on demand. In this episode of the , Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with about how higher education leaders can think more clearly and more strategically about AI. Hoang explains why AI should be used to augment human capability rather than replace it, and why educators matter even more in a world where...
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Students Are Acting Like Consumers. Higher Ed Needs to Catch Up
Changing Higher Ed
Jeff Dinski helped start Cold Pizza at ESPN, the morning show that eventually became First Take. On a daily show, ratings are everything. You either produce something people want to watch, or you do not last. He carried that discipline into edtech, and it is the lens through which he looks at higher education: are you really giving students what they need, or are you producing what is convenient for you? In this episode of the podcast, and Jeff Dinski, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer at , the largest edtech company in the world serving roughly half of all U.S....
info_outlineFree speech on campus is not an abstract constitutional issue—it’s a governance challenge for presidents and boards.
In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton is joined by Dr. Sean Stevens, Chief Research Advisor at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), to examine the current state of campus free speech and what institutional leaders must do to protect open inquiry under increasing political and social pressure.
Drawing on FIRE’s national research and campus speech databases, Stevens outlines the sharp rise in government-involved attempts to sanction speech, the growing prevalence of self-censorship among faculty and students, and the structural pressures reshaping intellectual life on U.S. campuses.
The conversation moves beyond partisan framing and focuses on leadership responsibility: preserving disciplined pluralism, reinforcing institutional neutrality, and ensuring that students graduate prepared to engage competing ideas with rigor and intellectual humility.
Some of the key topics covered in this episode include:
- The increase in campus speech sanction attempts involving government actors
- Faculty and student self-censorship trends and what the data reveals
- Why exposure to competing perspectives is an educational obligation
- Institutional neutrality as protection for viewpoint diversity
- The distinction between protected speech and prudent speech in the social media era
- Practical steps presidents and boards can take to strengthen expressive rights policies
Three Takeaways for University Presidents and Boards:
- Defend expressive rights consistently—even when doing so is politically uncomfortable. Leadership credibility depends on principled application.
- Recognize that sustained political and social pressure can narrow intellectual culture—and counter that contraction intentionally.
- Preserve disciplined pluralism as a core academic value. Students must be able to hear, analyze, and argue competing perspectives without fear.
This episode provides a strategic lens for higher education leaders navigating campus speech controversies while protecting the fundamental mission of scholarship and inquiry.
Listen now or read the transcript:
https://changinghighered.com/free-speech-in-higher-education-fire-on-institutional-integrity-and-mission/
#HigherEducation #FreeSpeech #CampusLeadership #AcademicFreedom #BoardGovernance #ChangingHigherEdPodcast