Carrot’s 1st 5!

I spent an immense amount of time during 2025 building and attempting to implement The Future of Higher Education Institute at my college.  I was hopeful that everything was in order from the budget to the staff.  I submitted the final draft of the proposal in November and didn’t hear back from the Chancellor’s office until a week before finals.  Their biggest question… “How does this make/save the college money”.  WHAT?  Didn’t you read the proposal?  Didn’t you follow the data points?  IS this what Higher Education has become?

After getting slapped in the face with that question, I took a moment to wallow in disenfranchisement.  But now I had a week to spell out why funding this institute is worthwhile in “their” terms.  I didn’t have time to rework my fifty-plus page proposal, so I decided to write an addendum to the proposal highlighting the subtleties “they” may have missed in the original submission (they refers to a chancellor’s cabinet which includes an array of vice-something-or-others and campus presidents, led by someone who gate-keeps what makes it to the chancellors desk).

Let me back up for a second to explain the gist of the proposal.  

Technology is moving fast. Students’ primary reasons for seeking higher education are jobs and money. Technology will take jobs and money. If we don’t start preparing for a major shift, then students will stop attending college, and higher education may actually fold.

Ultimately, I suggest a shift from the “learn more, earn more” mantra of higher-ed, to something like: education through community makes for better citizens and that makes for a better society.  The community aspect of climbing weighed heavily in the prominent attention I gave to the community aspect in education!

Apparently attempting to buttress the future of higher-ed doesn’t quite align with the retention and completion stats demanded by the state.

Jumping ahead a little bit, after submitting my addendum, I finally hear back from “them” on the last day of finals, saying that “they” need more time to consider my proposal, and we can meet to discuss it in early January (through Zoom, which is never a good sign, considering we all work at the same college, it kind of feels like a cowards move, but we’ll see).

All that is to say, nearly 100% of the books and papers I read in 2025 were either based on the future of humanity or the importance of a liberal education.  The exception being Bobbito Garcia’s book Bobbito’s Book of B-Ball Bong Bong (Spectacular read if you are a fan of basketball).

So, for 2026, I am jumping into the year with a slight modification to the reading list.  Below are the 1^st 5 books on my reading list for the new year, in case you’d like to read along or have any thoughts or comments on the list itself.  Further, if you have any recommendations regarding books on the defense of Higher Education, let me know and if I haven’t read them yet, I will absolutely add them to the list!

So, without further ado, here are my 1st 5!

1. The Death of Ivan Ilych (Leo Tolstoy) – I don’t remember the last time I read a novel, and I have been wanting to read this one for several years!
2. Hidden Games (Moshe Hoffman and Erez Yoeli) – Game Theory will play a major role in the continuation of Higher Education, and so I am doing my best to understand the finer points.
3. In Defense of Liberal education (Fareed Zakaria) – Kind of a pop writer, but I am still interested in the argument Zakaria lays out!
4. Empire of AI (Karen Hao) – Jumping back into it!
5. This is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web (Tim Berners-Lee) – And the work continues.

I’m not sure if the final decision from “them” will alter my research on the topic, I’m hoping it won’t, but either way there will be signs.  If the next reading list features the likes of Walden and Zarathustra, you may venture a guess as to what direction “they” went.  But then again, what type of education would be complete without revisiting some of the classics?