Beilock argues universities must drop activism to regain trust
- Dartmouth's president says universities fail when they act as advocacy groups rather than truth-seekers.
- She links the removal of peers at Harvard and Penn to institutions abandoning their core mission.
- The school uses AI chatbots to detect student stress and is reversing test-optional policies based on data.
Sian Beilock, Dartmouth's president, told Stephen Dubner on Freakonomics Radio that the recent upheaval at Harvard and Penn wasn't a surprise. She sees the removal of those presidents as a predictable consequence of universities losing their way by acting as social advocacy organizations.
Beilock advocates for institutional restraint. Her policy is that the university should remain neutral on political issues that don’t touch its core function of discovering truth. She draws a line between free expression and disruption; students can write 'mean things' on sidewalks, but cannot take over common spaces or shout down speakers. Dartmouth enforced these rules early.
"When an institution takes a side, it effectively silences heterodox voices."
Sian Beilock, Freakonomics Radio
Restoring public trust, Beilock argues, requires universities to stop being political footballs. She wants campuses to be 'brave spaces' where students are forced to be uncomfortable, rather than 'safe spaces' that shield them from dissent.
Her position is backed by operational shifts at Dartmouth. The school was the first Ivy League institution to bring back the SAT and ACT, a move triggered by data modeling. Beilock explained that the 'test-optional' movement backfired on low-income students, who were less likely to submit imperfect scores. Dartmouth's reversal has since prompted Columbia and others to follow.
As a cognitive scientist, Beilock is also applying her research on choking under pressure to campus life. Dartmouth is piloting 'Evergreen,' an AI chatbot designed to act as a sensing layer for student mental health, identifying behavioral shifts like disrupted sleep patterns before they spiral.
"Mental health is a precursor to academic excellence. If students don't feel okay, they won't take the intellectual risks necessary to engage with difficult, heterodox ideas."
Sian Beilock, Freakonomics Radio
For Beilock, the crisis of trust is a direct result of mission drift. Her solution is a return to institutional neutrality, backed by data-driven policies on admissions and student wellbeing.