Forum Donald N. Langenberg 

We Will 
A Vision for a Revolution 

Like it or not, we are about to be caught up in a whirlwind of revolutionary change in 
colleges and universities across the nation, a movement that will reinvent the American 
university as we now know it. There are no innocent bystanders in a revolution, only victims 
and victors. Everyone in our universities can and must play a crucial role in making sure that 
the revolution results in re-created and revitalized institutions. 

Thirty years ago, when John Kennedy delivered his inaugural address, the nation stood 
at a crossroads that, in historical hindsight, can legitimately be described as the beginning 
of a revolution: a social revolution that would inspire the world, and change forever the way 
we view ourselves, our fellow inhabitants of this planet, and our institutions. We would 
never be the same. 

Today, American higher education stands at a similar crossroads. To believe that we 
can preserve the American university of the last half-century is to ignore the reality of a vastly 
changed world, and its expectations of us. To ignore that reality is sheer folly. To stand idly 
by and allow the tide of events to overtake us is irresponsibility of the highest order-
irresponsibility to our profession as guardians of the relentless pursuit of knowledge, and to 
our many patrons and stakeholders, who rely on us to light the path of civilization. 

One of the great characteristics of the university is its stability. The university as an 
institution has withstood the tests of time: it is one of a precious few institutions that have 
survived, virtually intact, since the Reformation. While empires and civilizations crumbled, 
humanity has looked to the university as a rock to which we could all cling in a sea of chaos 
and change. 

But that wondrous stability has become an encumbrance, an excuse to resist necessary 
change. In a swiftly evolving global society that waits for no institution to keep pace, we are 
in very real danger of becoming a historical anachronism, a bastion of arrogant irrelevance. 

Our critics say, with more than a little justification, that America's colleges and 
universities have become self-indulgent; that we have, somehow, lost our vision and 
misplaced our priorities. We have rested far too long on our well-earned laurels. The 
American university is indeed unparalleled in the world. Its product may indeed be the sole 
remaining commodity for which this nation can claim a trade surplus in the global 
marketplace. But for how long? 

Our self-satisfaction is exceeded only by our slowness to recognize that we have 
neglected the most central aspects of our enterprise: we have ignored our obligations to our 
most important clients, we have bloated our administrative structures, and we have blithely 
disregarded an international movement emphasizing quality and results. If we were the 
bellwethers of change and progress we claim to be, we should have led that movement. 
Instead, like aristocrats in a decaying civilization, we contented ourselves with pontificating 
from the sidelines. 

My friend and colleague at the University of Pennsylvania, Robert Zemsky, puts it 
most eloquently when he says that we are coming to "the end of sanctuary" for higher 
education, the end of a time in which America's colleges and universities were sheltered 
from the cold winds that buffeted other institutions. Today American higher education can 
expect to be subjected to the same critical scrutiny and demands for accountability that all 



Langen berg 89 

other institutions face. If we do not respond now, and vigorously, to these 
challenges, we risk becoming the subjects of political demagoguery and tabloid 
journalism. Indeed, some of our sister institutions already have. 

With the perfect vision of hindsight, nearly all of us would agree today that 
we should have behaved differently in the decade of the eighties had we known 
what the nineties would bring to American higher education. The eighties 
brought extraordinary growth in resources and programs to colleges and 
universities across the nation. We had an opportunity, during those boom years, 
to focus our new resources in the most innovative and imaginative ways. We 
failed to do so. We used our newfound wealth to create new and sometimes 
questionable programs, without cutting out the old, the outmoded, or the 
mediocre. Today we are paying the price. Many of us are now thinking, and some 
are now saying aloud : "If only we had half of that money from the eighties to 
spend now. If only we had planned strategically then. If only we had resisted the 
temptation to seize every opportunity and, instead, invested selectively." 

My purpose is not to debate the question, "Who lost American higher 
education?" It is to ask, and to answer, the question, "Do we continue on our 
present path and invite decline, or do we choose a new path, one that will lead us 
to a reinvention of the American university, one that will make it again a vital 
engine of our society-an enterprise that is at once responsive and responsible to 
its citizens?" 

I believe the answer is obvious. We must choose a new path! To paraphrase 
the words of another Penn colleague, Claire Fagin, we must learn to choose, not 
chase our future. 

As we contemplate the task before us, it behooves us to remember 
Machiavelli's admonition in The Prince: 

"There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, 
nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the 
reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm 
defenders in all those who would profit by the new order." 

We cannot afford to be lukewarm in our commitment to initiate a new order. 
Nor can we afford to approach the revolution with fear-the fear of criticism or 
the fear of that which is new. With firm conviction, and with the firm intention to 
succeed, we will take a new path. 

No journey should begin without charting a course. Here, then, are some 
marching orders. There are only five: 

First: Educate. That is our primary business. Indeed, in its broadest sense, 
it is our only business. In emphasizing the core values of nurturing minds, 
advancing knowledge, and elevating the human spirit, we dedicate ourselves to 
the essential business of higher education. What we are about is the creation, 
dissemination, and application of information and knowledge. Our product is 
learning. 

Second: Do it right, the first time. In all that we do, quality will be our 
standard. This is the most fundamental transformation that we must expect from 
each and every institution and from everyone in it: to adopt "quality" as an 
essential characteristic of one's work, whatever it may be, and to create institutional 
cultures that place priority on educating and serving others over resource 
acquisition and elevation of status. 

Third: Go for results. Collegial process is to be valued, but not as an end to 
itself. Endless debate without action accomplishes nothing. Show us the results 
you've achieved. Set meaningful objectives, and evaluate your performance on 
the basis of whether you achieved those objectives. Tangible outcomes, not 
process and methods, will bring eminence. Moreover, we cannot talk about 
focusing on tangible outcomes without dealing with accountability and assess-



90 Metropolitan Universities/Spring 1992 

ment of performance. I find it supremely ironic-and hypocritical-that we 
who have learned how to measure the distance to the farthest galaxy and to 
predict the outcomes of future elections insist that we cannot measure our own 
output. We must change that. 

Fourth: Tear down the walls. We must break tired, old habits that inhibit 
creative and innovative solutions to new problems. We do too many things 
simply because "that's how we've always done it." We've always organized our 
colleges and universities into departments, schools, and campuses. Our 
administrators, faculty, and staff have always carried titles that contribute to a 
hierarchical view of everything. We have discrete job descriptions; we work 
through committees; faculty and administrators see each other as natural 
antagonists. It's time to learn how to breach organizational barriers and find ways 
to organize ourselves in teams that focus on solving problems. 

Fifth: Simplify.We must work together to reduce the bureaucratic complexity 
and constraints that limit our ability to do what really needs to be done. We must 
begin to prune the thicket of policies, rules, regulations, and guidelines that 
threaten to smother our universities and every creative employee within them. 
Too many rules intended to prevent everything bad from happening also keep 
anything good from happening. Every time we enact one of those, we cut off one 
more route we could have used to solve a problem. Rather than erect obstacles to 
failure, we need to create pathways to success. We cannot focus on results if we 
are mired in process and wallowing in red tape, regulations, and reports. 

These five guiding principles are intended to empower each and every 
member of our universities. An old Chinese proverb says: "If you want one year 
of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you 
want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people." We will grow people-not 
just ordinary people, mere time-servers and functionaries, but prophets, 
leaders, explorers, and builders. For this revolution, nothing else will do but 
revolutionaries. Let us adopt as our rallying cry, "We will." Without fear of 
criticism, we will seek what is right. With vigor and integrity, we will achieve 
national eminence. With the spirit and cooperation of family, we will succeed. 

In the year 1848, my great-great-grandfather left his native city of Weimar 
and emigrated to America. I like to imagine that, as a small boy, he may have 
encountered in the streets of Weimar one of its most distinguished citizens, a man 
from whom I would like to borrow my closing words. Johann Wolfgang von 
Goethe wrote, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has 
genius, power and magic in it." 

I envision a revolution in American higher education. Let us begin it. 

Acknowledgment 

This column is adapted from the Inaugural Address of Donald N. Langenberg as 
Chancellor, the University of Maryland System, June 26, 1991. 


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