On Wednesday, September 17, Barnard President Laura Rosenbury published a Guest Essay in the New York Times, accompanied by an email to Barnard students. 

On Wednesday, September 17, Barnard President Laura Rosenbury published “Now Is the Time for Colleges to Host Difficult Speakers,” a Guest Essay in the New York Times Opinion Column. As of Wednesday evening, it has been renamed “Barnard President: Charlie Kirk Challenged College Students. We Need More Like Him.” Barnard has not yet commented on if they were consulted on this change. Following the publication of the piece, she sent an email to Barnard students with the subject line “Disagreeing Better.” 

In both the article and email, Rosenbury emphasized the need for discourse on college campuses, rather than entering echo-chambers in higher education. She starts the Guest Essay with a discussion on the recent death of Charlie Kirk, a prominent right-wing political commentator. 

Despite Kirk being a “polarizing” figure, Rosenbury affirmed that “universities need to reconfirm our commitment to nonviolent forms of disagreement—even when we are confronted with voices that disparage or dismiss identities and worldviews.” Amid such deep political divisions, she wrote that this is a time for more dispute and debate, not less. 

Rosenbury continued by stating that blaming Kirk’s death on his words and polarizing opinions was akin to blaming a victim of assault for wearing provocative clothing, noting that critics aim to use his extreme views to detract from the “broader implications of [his] assassination.” 

Rosenbury also emphasized the importance of fighting the “groupthink” that prevents everyone from feeling safe and engaging in productive discourse on campuses. It is easy to seek out views that only support one’s personal views on a campus, rather than engage with those who might think differently, she said. Pointing to the ongoing protests at Barnard, Columbia, and colleges across the country, Rosenbury wrote, “The campus disruptions I’ve seen over the past two years—disruptions that have interrupted classes, destroyed property and restricted access to libraries—reflect this siloed mind-set. Protest should not silence others, and advocacy of political views should not undermine our academic mission.”

In the last paragraph of her essay, Rosenbury reaffirmed the need to engage with the widest spectrum of views possible on a campus, without engaging in violence. For her, the core of a liberal arts education is to teach students “how to think,” rather than “what to think.” This sentiment was restated in Rosenbury’s email to the Barnard community on Wednesday morning, which noted that the purpose of higher education is to equip students with the critical thinking skills to filter through a variety of views and come up with their own. She expressed that a Barnard education is about “creating a community that questions assumptions, that is eager to learn new things, that engages in meaningful and respectful discourse, and becomes stronger because of our differences.”

This opinion piece comes after one published by Rosenbury in the Chronicle of Higher Education last year, titled “When Student Protest Goes Too Far.” Rosenbury has repeatedly communicated directly with Barnard students as well as through opinion pieces like these that disagreement in higher education should be voiced, not acted upon, and noted the need for productive discourse on contentious issues.

Email sent from Barnard President Laura Rosenbury to the Barnard Community on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 9:45 am:

Dear Members of the Barnard Community,

This morning, The New York Times published a guest essay I authored on the importance of disagreeing better. 

Disagreeing better means making space for views that differ from our own, even when they feel contrary, or offensive, to our sensibilities. It means ensuring that higher education remains a place where curiosity, open discussion, and inquiry thrive. And it means committing ourselves to respectful, nonviolent discourse that strengthens, rather than undermines, our academic mission. 

At Barnard, we welcome every single student for who they already are. At the same time, we push students to stretch their horizons. Professors expose students to new ideas, this dynamic city forces everyone to adapt, and classmates form friendships that are defined not by conformity or agreement, but by curiosity and respect for even fundamental differences. That’s what a Barnard education is all about: creating a community that questions assumptions, that is eager to learn new things, that engages in meaningful and respectful discourse, and becomes stronger because of our differences.

This moment underscores the unique role colleges and universities play in a democratic society. Our campuses must remain places where students encounter ideas with which they profoundly disagree. The purpose of higher education is not to protect us from difficult ideas, but to equip us with the intellectual courage, critical thinking, and empathy to engage them and then to gather support for competing ideas.

At Barnard, we continuously strive to live out this purpose. Through our cross-campus curiosity initiative and new first-year programs in listening and dialogue, we are strengthening our capacity to engage across differences respectfully, rigorously, and without violence. These efforts will not shield us from discomfort, but they will prepare us to wrestle with complexity and nuance while standing firmly against rhetoric that demeans or dehumanizes.

As we move forward, let us recommit to open inquiry and debate, knowing that the best way to confront harmful ideas is not through silence or violence, but by exposing them to the scrutiny, dialogue, and debate that a liberal arts education makes possible.

Laura

Laura Rosenbury via Barnard