Opinion

America 250 demands a return to the founders’ dream for higher education

The university exists to form citizens capable of nurturing our delicate experiment in self-government

By Dr. Stuart R Bell Fox News

Published June 13, 2026 8:00am EDT

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Leading a major public university teaches you something the administrative class never quite grasps: Institutions are living things. Further, the people tasked with guiding them are obligated to pivot and adapt in order to remain faithful to our country’s first principles. I led the University of Alabama from 2015 to 2025. I too watched the DEI movement on the national stage begin as a professed commitment to "opportunity," but evolve into something else entirely — an ideological enforcement regime hostile to merit, to free inquiry, and to the noble aspirations that forged the American university.

When the Alabama Legislature passed SB 129 in 2024, prohibiting taxpayer-funded DEI offices, I worked hand in hand with the state to ensure compliance. In fact, we were commended by the sponsors of the legislation for our complete and swift action. Outreach to gifted students from rural and underserved communities — work that had absolutely nothing to........

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