The following is a lightly edited speech delivered by Fanta Aw at the U21 Annual Network Meeting & Presidential Symposium 2025 at the University of California - Davis on May 7, 2025.

It is an honor to open this summit—a gathering not just of presidents, but of stewards of knowledge, architects of futures, and trustees of the public good. We meet at a time of profound global turbulence—and unparalleled opportunity. As an international educator and sociologist from the Global South living and working in the global north, I have long believed that higher education is not just a mirror of society—it must be its conscience. Universities are not neutral grounds. We are truth-tellers and truth-seekers. 

Universities cannot retreat in the face of these pressures. We must become even more steadfast in our role as both truth seekers and truth tellers. Truth seeking means asking hard questions—of ourselves and of society. Truth-telling means naming injustice—even when it’s uncomfortable.

We are called to be bold, not because it is easy, but because the stakes are too high for complacency. The future of the university is at stake. We face existential choices. And the stakes are not theoretical. In some countries, diversity and inclusion programs are being dismantled by law. Academic freedom is shrinking under populist regimes. The legitimacy of science, expertise, and even truth is being openly questioned. This is not simply a communications crisis. It is a crisis of legitimacy, of purpose, of moral clarity. Universities must not just generate knowledge. We must also protect it, democratize it, and apply it with intention. We must be ethical stewards of knowledge—ensuring it advances justice, not just GDP; liberation, not just institutional prestige.

The Moment We Are In

Today’s world is marked by interconnected crises—climate change, conflict, disinformation, and deepening inequality. We are confronting generational reckoning. Yet, we also see resilience—led by students demanding equity, indigenous communities reasserting stewardship of land and wisdom, and institutions redefining impact beyond rankings. In this landscape, the university must prove its relevance not in what it preserves, but in what it transforms.

The System We Inherited Is Not the One We Need

Let us begin with an uncomfortable truth: the global higher education system—as it currently exists—is not always equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. It is a system that:

  • Prioritizes mobility for the few, rather than access for the many.
  • Centers Euro-American knowledge systems, while marginalizing indigenous, Afro-diasporic, and local epistemologies.
  • Celebrates global rankings, even as they reinforce historical hierarchies.
The University as a Truth-Teller

Let us reclaim the university as a truth-teller. Academic freedom is not a luxury—it is a necessity. When truth is under siege, the university must not flinch. Whether confronting historical injustices, climate denial, or rising xenophobia, we must defend knowledge as a public good. From my own journey—as a student, educator, and leader—I have seen how truth-telling must also be intersectional. It must include the voices of women, the displaced, the Global South, and the often unseen contributors to scholarship. Truth without justice is incomplete. Truth without action is insufficient.

Community, Utility, and Co-Creation

Universities must be critical actors—not bystanders—on issues of climate justice, racial equity, gender freedom, and displaced communities. We are not just think tanks; we are cultural and political institutions with responsibility. Universities must be rooted in community. Our value is not defined by prestige, but by proximity to people. Are we serving the marginalized? Are our innovations solving real-world problems? Are we listening as much as we are lecturing? This is a call for utility—not in the transactional sense, but in the transformative one. The university must be useful to society in ways that are moral, not just market-driven. This means co-creating knowledge with communities, not for them. It means aligning research with local and planetary needs. And it means embracing humility as a form of rigor.

Reclaiming the Purpose of Knowledge

The heart of the university is knowledge—but what kind of knowledge, for whom, and to what end? Pierre Bourdieu reminds us that cultural capital is unequally distributed and socially constructed. Who decides what counts as valid knowledge? Who controls the language of expertise?

Our institutions are often celebrated as engines of innovation and excellence. But we must ask: Excellence for whom? Innovation toward what end?

  • Do we reward knowledge that changes lives—or only knowledge that ranks well?
  • Do we fund the humanities and social sciences—or only disciplines with measurable ROI?
  • Are we creating co-knowledge with marginalized communities—or continuing extractive models of research?

The global knowledge economy is still defined by asymmetries—in citation practices, research funding, and epistemic validation. The Global South, women scholars, and indigenous voices remain systemically underrepresented. We cannot talk about internationalization without addressing the politics of knowledge production. True global education is not just about moving people across borders. It’s about moving ideas, sharing power, and building new epistemic futures.

Consider these realities:

  • Indigenous knowledge systems have long held principles of sustainability—centuries before Western climate science caught up.
  • Community-based participatory research often yields more equitable health outcomes, yet is undervalued in tenure and promotion.

This is not accidental. It is structural. And we have the power—and the moral obligation—to change it.

A New Covenant for Higher Education

We must imagine a new covenant—a new global compact for higher education. One where:

  • Partnerships are horizontal, not extractive.
  • Pedagogy fosters empathy, global competence, and critical consciousness.
  • Policy champions mobility, access, and ethical global engagement.

As international educators, we know that borders are not boundaries to learning but invitations to solidarity. We know that systems reproduce unless we disrupt them intentionally. It’s not enough to open our doors. We must also examine who built them, who guards them, and what lies on the other side. Let us reimagine the university not as a tower, but as a crossroads—where different knowledges meet, where justice is pursued, and where our shared humanity is centered.

I am a product of international education. But more importantly, I am a product of possibility—a possibility made real because my family believed education could cross oceans, histories, and barriers. Let us be institutions that do the same for the next generation. Let us not just imagine the future of higher education—let us shape it.

A Vision of Shared Agency

Let me close with this. The sociologist Anthony Giddens speaks of the “duality of structure”—how systems constrain, but also enable agency. We are the stewards of powerful institutions. But more than that, we are agents of possibility. Thus, let us dare imagine and act on the possibilities.  As presidents of major and prestigious institutions, you have influence. And you must use it—ethically, strategically, and with courage.