Higher Education Leaders Convene to Strategize on the Future of the Humanities
On December 12-13, 2025, 22 current and former university presidents, chancellors, and leading voices in the humanities gathered for a retreat at the National Humanities Center (NHC) in Durham, North Carolina, to discuss strategies for strengthening humanistic inquiry on American campuses today.
Co-organized by ACLS President Joy Connolly, Joanna Brooks, past NHC visiting scholar-in-residence and associate vice president of faculty advancement and student success at San Diego State University, and Blair Kelley, president of the National Humanities Center, the retreat allowed for candid discussions of the pressures presidents face in the current climate. The group workshopped historically grounded and fact-based narratives about the value of humanistic expertise and discussed the important role university presidents and chancellors play in telling the story of the humanities to students, parents, trustees, and legislators.
Attendees included:
- Ben Vinson III, President, American Historical Association and Professor of History, Howard University
- Blair L. M. Kelley, President, National Humanities Center
- Christopher Thornton, Senior Director of US Programs, American Council of Learned Societies
- Don Solomon, Vice President of Marketing and Communication, National Humanities Center
- Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Chancellor, City University of New York
- Georgia Nugent, President in Residence, American Academic Leadership Program
- Heidi Camp, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, National Humanities Center
- Janet Ward, Associate Provost for Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Initiatives and Professor of Philosophy, Stony Brook University
- Jennifer Airey, Provost and Professor of English, University of Tulsa
- Joanna Brooks, Associate Vice President for Faculty Advancement and Student Success, San Diego State University
- Jonathan R. Alger, President, American University
- Joy Connolly, President, American Council of Learned Societies
- James B. Milliken, President, University of California System
- Kenton Sparks, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eastern University
- Lynn Pasquerella, President, American Association of Colleges and Universities
- Marjorie Hass, President, Council of Independent Colleges
- Robert Townsend, Director of Humanities, Arts, and Culture Programs and Co-Director of the Humanities Indicators, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Sean T. Buffington, Interim President and Vice President for Programs, Henry Luce Foundation
- Stephen Kidd, Executive Director, National Humanities Alliance
- Valerie Smith, President and Roy J. and Linda G. Shanker Presidential Chair, Swarthmore College