Book Talk: Lee Bollinger — University: A Reckoning - with Adam Liptak

Watch author Lee Bollinger's book talk and reading at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.

From the renowned former president of Columbia, an account of the university in the age of authoritarianism and a new case for its place in the American system.

In this thrilling work, Lee C. Bollinger, perhaps the most consequential university leader of our time, argues that the university is an institution vital to the maintenance of democracy—and thus it is no surprise that it is coming under fierce attack from an authoritarian administration. Drawing on his years as president of the University of Michigan and then Columbia University, as well as his expertise on the First Amendment, Bollinger reveals how the structure of the university contributes to the success of the American system, and why that structure is both impossible to recreate and vulnerable to outside attack. The mission of the university—to preserve and enhance knowledge—is not merely a high–minded idea, but one rooted in the First Amendment, the basis of our shared political and social life. With the press fractured and diminished, it is the university that remains the only source of truth–seeking left to those who still believe in democracy. As Bollinger ultimately demonstrates, the university must be defended if the American experiment is to continue.

Lee C. Bollinger is an American legal scholar and educator who served as the 19th president of Columbia University, from 2002 to 2023. He is currently President Emeritus and the Seth Low Professor of the University. He also served as the president of the University of Michigan from 1997 to 2002. He is a renowned expert on the First Amendment and freedom of speech and press. He lives in New York City.

Bollinger is in conversation with Adam Liptak.

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