Last week, the Manhattan Institute issued a statement on university reform, calling on the “President of the United States to draft a new contract with the universities.” Many of the signatories hold university and faculty appointments. Two days after the statement was issued, UATX President Carlos Carvalho responded with a forceful endorsement of the statement, which has led to controversy that has already prompted the resignation of Lawrence H. Summers from that institution’s board of advisors.

The Manhattan Institute statement’s recommendations for university reform are not novel; in fact, they are similar to a number of the reforms HxA recommended last month in our Open Inquiry U Reform Agenda.

But there are important distinctions between the two reform agendas that must be explicitly called out:

1. Heterodox Academy is not calling for federal action to reform our universities. For nearly a decade, HxA has been a voice chiefly for internal reform. HxA was among the first organizations to name and call out the dangers of ideological homogeneity in higher education. HxA has consistently advocated for institutional cultures where open inquiry and viewpoint diversity thrive. We are a membership organization that works collaboratively with our members — academic insiders — to improve our universities from within.
2. Heterodox Academy is not necessarily seeking a “politically balanced” university. Rather, we seek a university where viewpoint diversity is welcomed and open inquiry thrives to best achieve understanding and truth about our world. In many cases that viewpoint diversity can be political, but it also can mean disciplinary, theoretical, methodological, etc.
3. Heterodox Academy does not agree with the diagnosis the Manhattan Institute communicates. HxA has often been a lonely voice calling for the reform of our universities. But we do not agree that universities on the whole have been “captured,” that universities are in “chaos,” and that the current “state of affairs” can only be remedied by forceful federal action. Instead, HxA has consistently criticized internal norms, processes, and incentive structures that have prevented our universities from reaching their highest ideals. Reform to us means persistent insider attention and action that result in sustainable, cultural change on campus. Our universities face serious internal problems. But blanket statements and exaggerations hinder rather than advance the serious, long-term reforms we need. 

These differences are reflected clearly in HxA’s statement released with our Open Inquiry U Agenda in June:

In recent decades, colleges and universities have pursued an ever-widening range of activities and purposes. But society is now asking these institutions to choose. What is their basic purpose? Which of their aims is fundamental?  

At Heterodox Academy, we believe the answer is clear. Colleges and universities’ highest purpose is the communal pursuit of knowledge through rigorous inquiry, dialogue, and discovery. As faculty push the boundaries of existing understandings, and students wrestle with challenging questions and ideas, a college or university can cultivate a uniquely creative and disciplined environment that enriches the entire society around it.

But today, many colleges and universities have become uncertain about their core purpose—and it shows. As the pursuit of knowledge becomes one possible goal among many, the core practices and habits of truth-seeking have become weak, optional, or even taboo on many campuses. Too often, conformity is rewarded over curiosity, and dissent is met with suspicion rather than engagement.

We know that meaningful change must come from within. That’s why, at HxA, we’re equipping faculty, staff, and campus leaders to build a stronger academic culture—one that honors the ideals of scholarly integrity, pluralism, and free thought.

For nearly a decade, HxA has been the voice for internal reform through the critical examination of ideological homogeneity in higher education, and has advocated for institutional cultures where open inquiry and viewpoint diversity can thrive. 

Following Trump’s inauguration in January, his administration undertook swift retaliatory actions that targeted universities for campus unrest in recent years. To some, these moves corrected decades of ideological overreach; to others, they signaled an external threat demanding resistance.

Despite this tension, recent polling from Lumina-Gallup and New America released last week suggests public confidence in higher ed is stabilizing. While partisan divides persist, the broader takeaway is a shift from the past decade: Americans still value higher education for preparing young people for careers and intellectual growth. Critical improvements are still needed, but not demolition with a federal sledgehammer.

U.S. higher education has clear room for improvement and reform. HxA was founded to broaden the scope of inquiry in research and education while improving the intellectual culture on campus. HxA’s Open Inquiry U Reform Agenda prioritizes practical commitments and normative changes that can be championed from any place in the university. We seek deep, nonpartisan, principled cultural changes on our campuses that will endure for the long term, and not quick-fixes that vary with the election-cycle. That’s why HxA is committed to working collaboratively with members and college leaders, as principled allies in our mission to improve our universities.

Deep, lasting internal reform — not punitive or retaliatory government action — is the true path forward for our institutions of higher learning to live up to their ideals.