Dr. Evelyn Carter sat at her desk, staring at the blinking cursor on her laptop. As the chair of the Faculty Senate, she was preparing remarks for an upcoming town hall meeting to address growing concerns among staff and faculty. Climate threats, political instability, legal tests, financial insecurity, unprecedented challenges to policies, and creeping artificial intelligence were creating an ever-present sense of existential threat. Stress was in every office, every meeting, and every increasingly hushed hallway conversation. How could they, as staff and faculty, not only endure but still lead in such times?
Evelyn took a deep breath and jotted down the phrase that had been circling her mind for weeks: Sustaining, Connection, and Purpose.
That evening, staff and faculty filed into the meeting. The university president, Dr. Ahmad Patel, opened the meeting. “We come to acknowledge the looming threats so many of us are holding and to begin the process of deciding how to best navigate them together.” Evelyn came to the podium.
“When I started here,” Evelyn began, “my greatest concerns were curriculum design, student engagement, and research deadlines. Today, many of us wake up with heavier, always lurking burdens—wondering how our institutions will survive, how our students will cope, and how we maintain hope.”
She let the words settle before continuing. “Let me get us started with three strategies for continuing on: Sustaining, Connection, and Purpose.”
She clicked the first slide on the screen behind her: Sustaining.
“Our world is changing fast, and for better or worse, higher education is changing with it. Sustaining isn’t just about endurance—it’s about adaptation. As we did during the pandemic, we are being moved to once again re-imagine how we work. This means being flexible with new technologies and learning how to manage the influence of outside forces, and being honest about the inevitable emotional toll of these.” She gestured toward Dale Kwan, a social worker in the audience. “Dale is in our counseling center and has workshops on important reminders, guides, and suggestions for all of us that fall into big baskets of grit, resilience, and hardiness. He told me it’s really important in these current times to remember that our reactions are our often reasonable responses to often unreasonable things. This means, Dale told me, that it is enough to be upset without also feeling upset with yourself for feeling upset. Dale also said that fear and worry are highly seductive emotions to find ourselves falling into, and to remind ourselves that we can be angry about these matters, too. Worry and fear tend to demobilize us while anger tends to mobilize us.
Nods of agreement spread through the audience.
Evelyn clicked the next slide: Connection.
“None of us can do this alone. None of us! The more isolated we become, the more overwhelmed we feel. When we lean on each other—when we collaborate across disciplines and offices, when we share ideas, when we listen with an open heart—we build a stronger foundation. This is a time to do better than the usual “Midwestern Two-Step” where we pass each other and say “How are you? Fine?" “How are you? Fine.” I encourage us to lean in to finding out how others are doing, asking something more than the usual “How are you?,” such as: “What’s making you happy this week?” or “What are your kids doing this weekend?” or “What’s something you are looking forward to in the next few days?" Responses to these more personal inquiries give us opportunities to follow-up, stay connected, and do so more deeply and personally.
The final slide appeared: Purpose.
“If there is one thing our campuses have always stood for, it’s the pursuit of knowledge in service of something greater than ourselves. We must remind ourselves why we are here. We shape young minds, foster critical thinking, and cultivate innovation. Our work has never been more essential!”
She closed her laptop and looked out at the crowd. “We can’t eliminate the threats that come via ambiguity and uncertainty in our current world. We can equip ourselves and our students with the tools to better navigate it.”
A hand shot up. It was Luis Herrera from Student Services. “Dr. Carter, how do we hold onto hope when we see numerous changes that challenge the ways we have done things for so long?”
Evelyn considered this. “Hope isn’t passive,” she said. “It’s something we build. It’s found in the solutions we create, the students we inspire, the community we foster. It’s in the simple act of showing up every day and staying vigilant, despite such challenges.”
The room fell into thoughtful silence. Then, a slow ripple of applause spread. In that moment, they were reminded that they were a collective force, committed to shaping a future that, despite its large uncertainties, was still worth fighting for.