Dive Brief:
- Davidson College President Carol Quillen says that the election of Donald Trump has exposed a deep-seeded angst among Americans whose lives have been changed by technology and the decreasing value of a high school diploma and a baccalaureate degree.
- She cites Davidson as one of many colleges serving as hubs for social and industrial change with a focus on the liberal arts, which she says will be instrumental in helping graduates to become better communicators, innovators and leaders in a changing world.
- The skills associated with these lessons are being refined at university research and development centers focused upon entrepreneurship, social justice and community well-being, she says.
Dive Insight:
Most colleges and universities realize the increasing value of a liberal arts education, but the 21st-century approach to actually changing this education to meet industrial needs requires leaders to more closely align with industrial factors in their cities and states.
If the textile or manufacturing industry is dying in a campus community, it is up to the university to connect with new forms of business to engage corporations in replacing that industry, so that both the campus and the community thrive in job creation and supporting the needs for credentialing and training.