Some thoughts, inspired by the class of 2025, on the challenges and opportunities of the moment.
Last Monday, I had the privilege of attending the Commencement ceremony at Washington University in St. Louis, where I serve as dean of the School of Public Health. I have long felt that graduation is the happiest day of the academic year, an enduring source of inspiration and joy. Coming together as a community to recognize the achievements of our graduates always ends the academic year on a hopeful note.
That perhaps fits uneasily in times of challenge and disruption, such as the current moment. It has been a disorienting few months. The election of a new administration has led to an array of proposed changes, some countermanded shortly after being introduced, some leading to court challenges and stays that change little but leave a policy Damoclean sword hanging over a lot of the work we do. Some of these actions directly affect what we do both in the academic world and in a world where we are aspiring to promote the health of populations. While I have written about where I see these policies endangering the health of populations, I also have tried hard to keep an open mind about the remit that should be afforded any administration to implement the agenda it feels it was elected to pursue.
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