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Is higher education losing public trust, and what can universities do about it?

Today on Heterodox Out Loud, Sian Beilock, President of Dartmouth College, joins John Tomasi to confront one of the most urgent challenges facing universities today: a growing crisis of confidence among the American public.

Drawing on her background in cognitive science and leadership under pressure, Beilock explains why trust is declining and what universities must do to restore it. From free expression policies and institutional neutrality to student culture and viewpoint diversity, this conversation explores how universities can return to their core mission: truth-seeking and education.

Offering a unique, insider's view, the discussion explores how a university president manages the conflicting pressures of a polarized age. It delves into real-world scenarios, including campus protests, speech disruptions, faculty relationships, and external pressure from the government.

In This Episode:

• Why 7 in 10 Americans distrust higher education
• The role of affordability, ROI, and ideological concerns
• How Dartmouth is implementing institutional restraint
• Where free speech ends and disruption begins
• Why students are hungry for real dialogue, not echo chambers
• What “viewpoint diversity” actually means in practice
• How universities can reform without political capture

About Sian Beilock:

Sian Leah Beilock is the 19th president of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution and one of the nation’s leading research universities. She is the first woman elected president of Dartmouth by the Board of Trustees and began her tenure on June 12, 2023. A distinguished cognitive scientist, Beilock is one of the world’s foremost experts on performance under pressure, a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, and the recipient of the 2017 Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences. She has authored over 120 peer-reviewed papers and two books: Choke and How the Body Knows Its Mind. Before Dartmouth, she served as president of Barnard College at Columbia University and as executive vice provost at the University of Chicago.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:00 Sian Beilock on Leadership, Pressure, and Cognitive Science

04:00 Why Open Inquiry Matters in Universities (Chicago Principles Influence)

09:30 Institutional Neutrality & Mission Clarity in Higher Ed

13:00 Free Speech, Protest Limits, and Campus Safety at Dartmouth

18:00 Student Culture: Dialogue vs Disruption on Campus

24:30 Viewpoint Diversity in Faculty and the Classroom

36:00 Rebuilding Trust in Higher Education (Data, SATs, Reform)

43:30 Universities, Government Pressure, and Institutional Independence

New Yorker Article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/03/16/the-unmaking-of-the-american-university

Follow Sian: https://x.com/sianbeilock