As Kansas State University continues to look forward, the school hosted a discussion Friday with West Virginia University President Gordon Gee surrounding the past, present, and future of higher education.
Gee started his career as a university president at West Virginia from 1981 to 1985. After serving at three other universities, Gee returned to WVU in 2013 to reclaim the role.
K-State President Richard Linton lead the discussion with Gee and asked his thoughts on the future impacts of higher education.
Gee feels strongly that land grant universities will continue creating positive change, as long as they continue their commitment of serving all communities within their state.
A New America survey from 2022 reported that only 44% of Americans think colleges and universities have a positive impact. This is a 14% drop since 2020.
Gee said he has witnessed this continual drop over his 42 years of service. He explained how this is an issue that can be addressed directly by the schools themselves.
When diving deeper into his thoughts on the future of education, Gee said that each generation brings a new set of students with new perspectives. He feels that these students are going to be agents of great change.
Between his two terms at West Virginia, Gee served as president at Ohio State, Brown, and Vanderbilt universities.
A full recording of Linton and Gee’s conversation can be found here.
