August 18, 2025

Dear Colleagues:

Please join me for the Provost’s Ethics Colloquium on The Future of Higher Education on Thursday, September 18, from 3–5 p.m. in the LSC Theatre. Our keynote speakers will be Drs. Jay Akridge and David Hummels, both Purdue University economists and experienced academic leaders.

Dr. Akridge is a Professor of Agricultural Economics, Trustee Chair in Teaching and Learning Excellence, and Provost Emeritus at Purdue University; Dr. Hummels is a Distinguished Professor of Economics and Dean Emeritus at the Daniels School of Business at Purdue. Both are brilliant, thoughtful, and engaging speakers with great senses of humor and strategic, practical suggestions for addressing the challenges we are facing in higher education.

I encourage you to peruse their blog, Finding Equilibrium: Two Economists on Higher Ed’s Future. They offer well-reasoned, compelling, economic arguments for the value of higher education, and their topics include academic freedom, tenure, research funding, institutional autonomy, accountability, and more.

These are challenging times for institutions of higher education amid a sea of uncertainty. We are fortunate to have these two excellent keynote speakers join us followed by an outstanding panel of CSU leaders ready to talk about the future of higher education.

We need your presence at this important colloquium and invite you to take part in a conversation about where we are and where we go from here.

Sincerely,
Marion

Marion K. Underwood, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President