To all the university communicators and administrators who receive the Canary newsletter, we wish you an inspiring, meaningful, and restful holiday season. Canary will be back in the new year, starting with a look at the most important higher education stories of the winter break.
This week, Legend Labs is featuring some of the most compelling owned content we’ve seen from college leaders during the Fall Semester. According to our analysis, the leaders of Forbes’ Top 500 universities posted on X more than 15,000 times this Fall. In addition, many took to the opinion pages to provide thought leadership on pressing higher education issues.
“To strengthen our democracy and the educational institutions that depend on it, we must learn to practice freedom better. This fall we can all learn to be better students and better citizens by collaborating with others, being open to experimentation and calling for inclusion rather than segregation — and participating in the electoral process. As for those loud voices in the political sphere who are afraid of these experiments, who want to retreat to silos of like-mindedness, we can set an example of how to learn from people whose views are unlike our own.”
“I speak out infrequently and have limited my non-academic statements to four areas:
Hate and violence. I speak out against hate including hate speech, racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia with the goal of teaching our community why hate is wrong in all its forms even when hate speech itself may be legal.
Health. I am responsible for the health of my community and believe it is important for me to comment on matters that can impact local health.
Climate change-sustainability. Our students will be inheriting the world we leave them, and I may comment on matters to ensure that our next generation protects our planet.
Local matters. We are stewards of place, and our university is deeply embedded in the local community. When major events occur locally that impact members of our university, I comment.”
“Those of us who lead universities, especially flagship universities in leading conferences, must step up and play a leadership role in shaping the new world of intercollegiate athletics that will serve all institutions, large and small. It cannot be left to television networks, video streamers, agents, and other commercial interests. We must act individually and together to ensure that the future of college sports supports our institutions’ mission to enhance the lives of the young people entrusted to us.”
Heather Wilson, President of University of Texas El Paso
“Students at universities have been given an opportunity. For that we should expect both gratitude to those who have sacrificed to make their education possible, and service in something beyond themselves. By doing, they develop as leaders, but they also strengthen the fabric of society and restore the institutions vital to community over the long term. When confidence in institutions and social norms at a national level are being torn asunder, universities can and should restore institutions from the local level up. When we do, America will be a better place.”
Gerson Moreno-Riaño, President of Cornerstone University
“American colleges and universities have always had an integral role in the moral formation of students and the shaping of the national character. As historian Julie A. Reuben reminds us, “universities never renounced their traditional moral aims.” Educators, Reuben argues, “believe that universities should prepare their students to live ‘properly’ and contribute to the betterment of society.” The missions of our colleges and universities are replete with moral objectives that they claim to pursue — and for which our students pay millions of dollars.”
Patricia McGuire, President of Trinity Washington University
“The “workforce over college” movement is a cruel betrayal of the once-fervent aspirations of a nation that believed in the importance of higher learning to educate citizen leaders capable of advancing our Democracy. We as a nation have retreated rapidly from understanding the worth of a college education NOT as a salary line on a PayScale chart but as a means to develop in succeeding generations the intellectual range and depth needed for self-governance in a free nation, the curiosity and ability to engage in research and discovery to foster the power of invention, the broad world view that builds respect and openness to people and cultures unlike ourselves, all talents and characteristics that are essential for a healthy free society to thrive.”
Presidents on X
The success of a university president or chancellor’s social media continued to hinge on a careful balance of institutional voice and personal authenticity. Athletic content remained the most reliable driver of engagement, with posts regularly generating 3-4 times the interactions of other content.
Celebrating Athletics:
Major Policy and Institutional Changes:
Academic Excellence:
Student Experiences and Events:
Legend Labs is a brand and communications consulting firm for the digital age. We help ambitious leaders create, grow, and protect their Legends. This analysis of reputation-related trends in higher education features insights from Meltwater and direct social media & web analysis.
