Colleges and universities do many things to distinguish themselves with excellence, from chasing rankings to highlighting Fulbright research to touting their alumni. But one rarely used tool is to distinguish a university by its teaching excellence. Teaching excellence is a factor that the public deeply values when it comes to what makes the “best university”—more so even than research, job placement, student satisfaction, and sports teams (Campbell, 2024). In fact, teaching excellence may be a key factor to bolstering public trust in higher education.

From “Rename and Remain” to “Reframe and Regain”: Reimagining Campus Inclusiveness
In my last article, I highlighted the crucial strategies of “person-first” and “targeted universalism” amid the wave of anti-DEI legislation in higher education. Initially, many of us embraced a “rename