Higher Ed Now

American Council of Trustees and Alumni

Higher Ed Now is a production of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. It is a podcast concerning issues and policy in America's higher education system.

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English

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November 5 · 59 min
Hugh Liebert & Robert McDonald: How West Point Teaches the American Founding
How does West Point prepare future military leaders to understand and defend the American constitutional republic? On this episode of Higher Ed Now: Civics Edition, ACTA president Michael Poliakoff speaks with United States Military Academy (West Point) professors Hugh Liebert and Robert McDonald. Professors Liebert and McDonald co-direct West Point's American Foundations Project minor, an ACTA-recognized Oasis of Excellence. The professors discuss how they instill in West Point cadets the importance of defending the American constitutional republic while avoiding both historical reverence and cynical presentism. Universities nationwide can learn from West Point's civic education model, which combines experiential learning, primary texts, oral exams, and a rigorous core curriculum. A very special video version of this episode is available on YouTube now!
November 2 · 56 min
Wilfred McClay: Returning to the Land of Hope
ACTA president Michael Poliakoff welcomes Wilfred McClay, the Victor David Hanson Chair in Classical History and Western Civilization at Hillsdale College and a member of ACTA's National Commission on American History and Civic Education, as well as a contributor to ACTA's new volume of essays on the true significance of the American Founding, A Nation Born in a Day. He and Dr. Poliakoff examine the historical foundations of American self-government, the failures of The 1619 Project, and how a clear, honest understanding of the American story is the antidote to the cynicism and apathy many young Americans feel towards their country.
October 8 · 47 min
Douglas Ginsburg: Renewing the Declaration's Promise
ACTA President Michael Poliakoff welcomes Senior Judge Douglas Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and a member of ACTA's National Commission on American History and Civic Education. Also a civic educator, Judge Ginsburg recently released a PBS documentary entitled We Hold These Truths: The Global Search for Liberty. The documentary examines how the Declaration of Independence has both inspired worldwide struggles for independence and liberty, and also fueled domestic movements like abolitionism and women's suffrage. He and Dr. Poliakoff also explore the troubling decline of civic knowledge among college students and how the civics revival movement is successfully restoring the study of U.S. history and government to American universities.
October 2 · 36 min
Emily Rounds: A Primer on Accreditation Reform
ACTA Senior Research Fellow Kyle Beltramini welcomes back Emily Rounds, Senior Higher Education Policy Advisor at Third Way, to dissect the possibility of massive changes to accreditation. Mr. Beltramini and Ms. Rounds evaluate the proposed regulatory changes brought up during the meeting of the Department of Education's accreditation committee, NACIQI. They discuss and debate the nuances of key issues like the Trump Administration's attempt to revoke the American Bar Association's accrediting status, a proposal to allow universities to maintain multiple accreditors, a revamp of transfer credit rules, and more.
September 14 · 47 min
Ryan Bangert: The Arc of Religious Liberty in American History
ACTA President Michael Poliakoff welcomes Ryan Bangert, Senior Vice President at the Alliance Defending Freedom and Visiting Instructor in Law at the University of Austin at Texas. He specializes in the American constitutional tradition of religious liberty. From the emergence of religious beliefs as an inalienable right, to the evolution of our understanding of freedom of religion 250 years into the American experiment, the conversation traces the past, present, and future of religious liberty in the United States.
August 31 · 46 min
Stephen Trachtenberg: A University President's Guide to Rebuilding the American Story
ACTA President Michael Poliakoff welcomes Dr. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus of George Washington University and member of ACTA's National Commission on American History and Civic Education. A distinguished university leader, Dr. Trachtenberg examines the systemic breakdown of American history education in America. He and Dr. Poliakoff explore the potential for reform, highlighting how university leaders, law associations, and governing boards can reinstate essential history requirements while avoiding the pitfalls of heavy-handed legislative control.
August 24 · 1 hr
H.R. McMaster & John Hillen: Teaching Military History Reveals America's Complexity and Character
On this episode of Higher Ed Now Civics Edition, ACTA President Michael Poliakoff moderates a bracing and illuminating conversation with Lt. General H.R. McMaster, the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and former U.S. National Security Advisor, and Dr. John Hillen, Executive-in-Residence in Duke University's Political Science Department and Distinguished Lecturing Fellow at the university's Center for Politics. Our guests discuss American military history and strategic vision within the context of American self-governance and civilian control of the military. They emphasize that this understanding is the foundation of informed patriotism. Both are members of ACTA's National Commission on American History and Civic Education and contributors to an upcoming volume of essays on what every college student should know about American history and government. A very special video version of this episode is available on YouTube now!
August 17 · 56 min
Vincent Phillip Muñoz: Faith and Free Speech
On this episode of Higher Ed Now Civics Edition, ACTA President Michael Poliakoff speaks with Vincent Phillip Muñoz, the Tocqueville Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame as well as the Founding Director of Notre Dame's Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government. Professor Muñoz is also the author of the 2022 book, Religious Liberty and the American Founding: Natural Rights and the Original Meanings of the First Amendment Religion. The lively conversation covers the conflicts over religion that shook the Founders, separation of church and state, and the perils of student self-censorship in today's academy. A very special video version of this episode is available on YouTube now!
August 3 · 1 hr 7 min
Michael Auslin: The Making of a National Treasure
On this episode of Higher Ed Now Civics Edition, ACTA President Michael Poliakoff speaks with Michael Auslin, the Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Professor Auslin is the author of "National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America", a dual history of the Declaration of Independence. The new book details both the physical artifact's journey from dark storage rooms to the National Archives' centerpiece and how Jefferson's words and the spirit of the document inspired generations of Americans, from abolitionists to anarchists. A very special video version of this episode is available on YouTube now!
July 20 · 30 min
Aimee Guidera: Higher Education and the Nation's Founding Aspirations
In April 2026, Dr. Bryan Paul, Curricular Fellow for ACTA's College Debates and Discourse Alliance, joined Aimee Guidera, former Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia, to organize and lead a student-driven civil debate at Harvard University. Sponsored by Harvard's Institute of Politics, where Secretary Guidera served as a Spring 2026 Resident Fellow, this Braver College Debate centered on a timely and critical question: "Has the United States lived up to its promises in the Declaration of Independence?" This episode captures Dr. Paul's conversation with Secretary Guidera immediately following the debate.
July 15 · 46 min
Mike Balow: Resisting MSU's Crackdown on Dissent
ACTA's Nick Down interviews Michigan State University (MSU) Board of Trustees member Mike Balow. The aftermath of an emergency meeting to revise MSU's trustee code of ethics has embroiled the Board in controversy. The revised ethics code includes a "loyalty pledge" that limits trustee speech, with threats to sanction and publicly censure any trustee who refuse to sign. Trustee Balow and one colleague refused to sign the loyalty pledge. Since then, the dissenting trustees have faced intense public pressure, including doxxing and social media threats. Trustee Balow tells his side of the story of what really happened at the emergency meeting, and why he categorically opposes the new mandate. Note: Since this recording, MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz has reversed his decision to depart MSU and will remain on as the university's president.
June 29 · 36 min
Max Schanzenbach: An Insider's Guide to Divestment
ACTA's chief of staff and SVP, Armand Alacbay, interviews Max Schanzenbach, the Seigle Family Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law. Professor Schanzenbach's work focuses on the intersection between economy and law, and he recently coauthored multiple papers on university divestment policies. In this conversation, he explains the crucial nuances that most discussions about universities divesting from Israel fail to consider.
June 22 · 52 min
Mark T. Mitchell: How Patrick Henry College Sets the National Standard
ACTA's Academic Affairs Fellow Veronica Bryant is joined by Dr. Mark T. Mitchell, Dean of Academic Affairs at Patrick Henry College as well as the author of numerous books on political theory. A small Christian school in Virginia, Patrick Henry College is one of only eight colleges in the country to receive an "A+" grade from ACTA's What Will They Learn?© project for its rigorous and high-quality core curriculum. Dr. Mitchell walks Veronica through the extraordinary structure of the classical liberal arts education offered at Patrick Henry College, as well as why this education is valuable today.
May 11 · 37 min
David Rohrbacher: Inside New College's Curriculum Turnaround
ACTA's Veronica Bryant welcomes David Rohrbacher, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Classics at the New College of Florida. NCF made headlines after they skyrocketed from an "F" grade to a "B+" rating in ACTA's What Will They Learn? Project (WWTL), becoming this year's "most improved school." WWTL assigns letter grades based on the rigor of the core curriculum at over 1,100 American colleges and universities. This improvement was thanks to a total overhaul of their general education program in 2024. Professor Rohrbacher discusses how that change came about and the innovative academic reforms that engage NCF students in substantive, serious coursework.
April 23 · 50 min
Lucas Morel: Frederick Douglass's Evolving View of Abraham Lincoln
On this episode of Higher Ed Now, ACTA's Michael Poliakoff hosts Washington & Lee University's John K. Boardman, Jr. Professor of Politics, Lucas Morel. Professor Morel currently serves on the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission and ACTA's National Commission on American History and Civic Education. He has also co-edited the book "Measuring the Man: The Writings of Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln," a groundbreaking new volume on how abolitionist Frederick Douglass's view of Abraham Lincoln evolved as America navigated its way through the Civil War and, eventually, to the Emancipation Proclamation. A very special video version of this episode is available on YouTube now!
April 10 · 30 min
Glenn Corn: A Former CIA Agent's Case for Language Learning
ACTA's Academic Affairs Fellow Veronica Bryant welcomes Glenn Corn, who spent 35 years working in the national security and international affairs community. Mr. Corn served as CIA chief of station for four different Eurasian and Middle Eastern countries. He now teaches graduate-level courses in International Affairs and Security Studies at the Institute of World Politics. In addition to his teaching work, Mr. Corn provides strategic advising and consulting, acts as a visiting fellow at George Mason University's law school's National Security Institute, and serves as an expert contributor to the Cipher Brief. Mr. Corn compellingly argues that language learning is essential, both for an intelligence career and for national security.
March 3 · 47 min
Wagner, Colonialism, and K-Pop: How Language Learning Connects Us to Culture and History
ACTA's Academic Affairs Fellow Veronica Bryant is joined by Dr. Marie Kawthar Daouda, stipendiary lecturer in French at the University of Oxford's Oriel College. Dr. Daouda teaches both literature and language, and her research focuses on the reception of antiquity in modern times and artistic representations of good and evil in periods of political and religious crisis. She is the author of Not Your Victim: How Our Obsession with Race Entraps and Divides Us. In their wide-ranging conversation, Drs. Bryant and Daouda discuss the role of language in shaping national, cultural, and individual identity.
Nov 13, 2025 · 45 min
David Eubanks: How Accreditation Does (And Does Not) Work
ACTA's Kyle Beltramini welcomes David Eubanks, assistant vice president of the Office of Institutional Assessment and Research at Furman University. Professor Eubanks is an expert on the philosophy and practice of leadership in higher education, particularly learning outcomes assessments, strategic planning, and institutional effectiveness. His work emphasizes using data-driven processes to inform decision-making. He recently completed a term on the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI). Professor Eubanks and Mr. Beltramini discuss accreditation's essential role in assuring academic quality, how the system has degraded over time, and how it can be effectively reformed.
Oct 9, 2025 · 45 min
Thad Westbrook: Leading Higher Education Reform at the University of South Carolina
ACTA's Nick Down interviews Thad Westbrook, chairman of the University of South Carolina's (USC) Board of Trustees. Mr. Westbrook earned his bachelor's degree in political science from USC and his J.D. from the USC School of Law. A member of the USC Board since 2010, he spearheaded the creation of USC's Center for American Civic Leadership and Public Discourse and has helped lead the movement to break up the higher education accreditation monopoly.
Sep 8, 2025 · 41 min
Lee Strang: Revitalizing Civics Education in the Buckeye State
ACTA president Michael Poliakoff speaks with Lee Strang, the inaugural director of the new Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society at the Ohio State University. He is also a professor at OSU's Moritz College of Law, the author of numerous books on Constitutional law, and the founder of Northwest Ohio Classical Academy. Professor Strang has devoted his life to the study and teaching of America's civic tradition, and he goes in-depth about his experience leading the Chase Center, from designing curriculum to managing relations with the broader university. He and Michael also discuss how Ohio has emerged as the frontrunner state in the ongoing revival of American civic education.

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