STURGE: 3 reasons to be optimistic for 2025

As we look ahead to 2025, there are promising indicators that a shift for the better is underway in higher education. 

Significant trends that Campus Reform has covered highlight the growing recognition on college campuses to uphold traditional American values and champion personal freedoms. 

Here are 3 reasons from 2024 to be optimistic for 2025: 

1. Universities embrace institutional neutrality and free speech

Over the past year, Campus Reform has reported a growing trend of elite universities adopting institutional ‘neutrality’ policies regarding political and social issues.

Harvard University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Michigan State University, Washington State University, and the University of Southern California are among the list of universities to adopt these measures.

“Universities and their leaders often are asked to take sides on political, social, and moral issues. Yet, such statements can silence people, be seen as speaking for everyone, and lead to unintended consequences and seeming orthodoxies that stifle people’s rights of free speech,” USC administrators wrote in a message to the campus community.

Universities are meant to be places for free and open civil discourse among students, and policies of institutional neutrality can help cultivate an environment where students can freely express their political views without fear or intimidation.

2. States protect women’s sports

In 2024, more than 20 states filed lawsuits against the Biden administration for ‘destroying women’s sports’ with its Title IX changes that would allow men into women’s bathrooms in colleges and universities.
 
The states suing over the regulations include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Notably, young activists like Riley Gaines are leading the charge. In March, Riley Gaines, director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, and 15 other student athletes filed a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) for allowing men to compete against women in women’s sports. Amidst the lawsuit, Gaines visited campuses across the country for her “Reclaim Feminism Tour” and led activism events inspiring college students to stand up to support women’s sports.

3.  Universities take a stand against Anti-Semitism

By January 2024, glaring anti-Semitism overtook campuses as violent protests occupied America’s elite universities. Campus Reform reports that anti-Israel incidents surged 477% on college campuses following the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas.

While many universities coddled anti-Israel protesters, one university notably took a bold stance against anti-Semitism. The University of Florida arrested violent protestors, suspended several students for up to four years, and upheld law and order on campus.

This September, more than 75 university presidents and chancellors gathered in Washington, D.C. for a summit combatting anti-Semitism. The summit was the largest-ever gathering of university leaders to address anti-Semitism, according to the organizers.

As students returned to campus in the fall, Campus Reform reported a trend of universities implementing new measures that aimed to avoid a repeat of the disruptive anti-Israel protests that paralyzed many campuses earlier in the year.

The University of California system, Stanford University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Connecticut banned campus encampments after the previous chaotic anti-Israel protests. The City University of New York (CUNY) strengthened security measures by adding more security officers to campuses within its system. The University of Southern California (USC) implemented new safety measures including ID scans and increased vetting of student bags and personal items.