What follows is a new section of my website intended to make it easier to find my writings and reflections on issues flowing from current challenges to higher education and freedom of expression.

My remarks in June 2025 to my 60 th reunion at Yale give a brief history of how my views on the responsibility of university leadership to nourish and protect an environment that encourages freedom of expression, civil discourse in contentious issues and a respect for diverse cultures, backgrounds and views.

My own journey began in the 1960s at Yale, led by Kingman Brewster, and was refined in my years as president of the New School and The MacArthur Foundation and chair of the Human Rights Watch.
While our democracy faces real challenges, I continue to be a “realistic optimist.”

As President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, I appointed a Commission on how to strengthen American democracy and produced a thoughtful report entitled “Our Common Purpose.”

The introduction is included here.