MAINE, USA — Last year, college campuses across the country were the sites of encampments, arrests, and protests by parties angered by the Israel-Hamas War.
While no major escalations happened last year during the few demonstrations on Maine campuses, university and college presidents have reflected and are looking forward to the coming year.
Joan Ferrini-Mundy, president of the University of Maine's flagship campus, said watching the congressional hearings in December of the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania was a "heart-wrenching" experience.
Seeing her peers testify was upsetting but also stressful, she said, which led her to question how she’d perform in the hot seat.
"To be constantly second-guessing: How would I have answered? What would I have said? Would whatever I would have said gotten me fired?" she said.
Mock-scenarios and discussions among presidents to prepare for more protests are common, Ferrini-Mundy said.
About 50 protesters gathered in May at UMaine to protest the Gaza conflict without incident. Elsewhere across New England and the U.S., however, protestors were met with handcuffs.
Looking back, University of New England President James Herbert said he feels there were two extremes on campuses. On one end, institutions were dictating what could and could not be said. On the other, all sides were left to speak.
"But people were just screaming at each other, throwing things at each other, and that's also not helpful," Herbert said of the latter.
In addition to demonstrations and congressional hearings, Ferrini-Mundy and Herbert say the role of president is different than years prior.
Those changes may be why the tenure of a university president has been shrinking.
According to researchers at George Mason University, the average tenure of a university president in the 1970s was about a decade. Another study from the American Council on Education found that in 2006, that went to 8.5 years.
In 2022, it fell to below six years.
However, last year's turmoil is an example of why leading a university is necessary according to Jacqueline Edmondson, the president at the University of Southern Maine.
"I also believe that this is the best time to be a university president," she said. "We have opportunities to re-envision and change higher education."
Herbert is trying to do just that with his President's Forum discussion series. With highly debated topics such as gun violence, transgender athletics, and homelessness, he said he hopes to foster civil dialogue amongst his students.
"[It's] model for the students, and frankly for the faculty, the professional staff, for the whole community how to have those difficult conversations in a constructive way," he said.
Continuing to put students and their education first is the goal amongst leaders, built from a belief that academic and ideological diversity is beneficial.
With this autumn’s semester just beginning, whether more turmoil is ahead is an unknown. However, Ferrini-Mundy feels continuing to prioritize the wellbeing of her students is best.
"If I bring a rational thoughtful, student-centered argument to anybody who might be critical of something we are doing here," she said. "That carries a lot of weight."