The Good Fight Daniel Diermeier on Why Universities Are Their Own Worst Enemies
Feb 14, 2026
Daniel Diermeier, chancellor of Vanderbilt and former University of Chicago provost, reflects on leadership, university governance, and public trust. He discusses how elite schools became targets, the rise of a professional-managerial class, the shift from regional to national campuses, and practical steps to rebuild civic connection and free-speech norms.
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Universities Fuel A Mobile Professional Class
- Elite universities recruit talent nationwide and often produce a professional-managerial class concentrated in big cities.
- That geographic and social separation fuels resentment and weakens ties between graduates and their home communities.
Rebuild Local Ties Proactively
- Strengthen bonds with the surrounding region through community engagement, arts, medicine, and athletics.
- Use those local connections to reduce perceptions that the university is isolated or elitist.
Two-Sided Political Backlash
- Conservatives see universities as 'woke factories' while the left accuses them of perpetuating inequality.
- The deeper worry is that scholarly standards are being subordinated to political ideology in multiple university domains.