Author: Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig
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Thank you, Stephen Colbert. Thank you for speaking truth to power. For staying far from timid. For never bending the knee to a wannabe king. I don’t often actually watch The Late Show live when it airs—but I’ve rarely missed an episode in years thanks to YouTube. It’s my daily ritual: I tune in for the monologue,…
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The Manhattan Institute’s so-called “Statement on Higher Education” is not a policy document. It is a political manifesto wrapped in the language of reform. Its signatories want you to believe that universities have lost their way, that they have betrayed some mythical past when higher education served only truth, honor, and a unified national mission.…
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Uppity minorities and courageous, equity-minded leaders are sometimes in the spotlight—but we also find ourselves in the crosshairs. Today, I want to talk about both. It’s important to celebrate the moments of honor, but also to reflect on the moments of pressure—because it’s in those crucibles that the commune of courage begins to rise. This…
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Let’s be clear: this moment is testing leaders across every sector—business, philanthropy, tech, government, education, and health.Whether you’re running a Fortune 500 company, managing a foundation, serving as an elected official, or leading a university, the question is the same: will you rise to meet this era, or will you retreat and hope no one…
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Tyranny doesn’t happen by accident. What is the method—tested, shared, copied, and repeated? Netflix’s series How to Become a Tyrant makes a bold and terrifying claim: authoritarians don’t just rise, they study. They follow a formula. And whether it’s Hitler in Germany, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, or Kim Il Sung in North Korea, the steps…
Cloaking Inequity 