2026 Clark Kerr Lectures: The American University in Crisis – Christopher Eisgruber, President of Princeton University (Part 2)

The 2026 Clark Kerr Lectures are co-sponsored by the Center for Studies in Higher Education, the Goldman School of Public Policy, and Berkeley Law.

In his 1963 Godkin Lectures, Clark Kerr declared that American universities were “at a hinge in history.” We are now at an equally pivotal moment: recent attacks on research funding and academic freedom imperil the model that Kerr described and that enabled American universities to become world-leading institutions. President Eisgruber’s lectures will examine developments that have rendered American universities more vulnerable to political attack and consider how universities and their presidents should define the civic mission of universities in the years ahead.

Tuesday, February 24 at 2:00 p.m. | Evolving Conditions
In the first lecture, President Eisgruber will focus on major trends that have affected the American model of the research university, including rising student debt, intense national competition, and battles over affirmative action, diversity, and merit.

Thursday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. | Contested Missions
In the second lecture, President Eisgruber will examine the role of university presidents, the civic mission of American research universities, and how university communities should respond to the challenges they now face.

More about the lectures and the speaker. 

Register for the lectures here.