At a moment when public trust in higher education is faltering and “diversity” has become a politically charged word, University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel argues that universities must return to first principles: truth-seeking, intellectual humility, and viewpoint diversity.

Today on Heterodox Out Loud, host John Tomasi speaks with Ed Seidel about how a public land-grant university can defend free speech, uphold institutional neutrality, and navigate state pressure around DEI, without abandoning its core academic mission.

Seidel, a theoretical physicist turned university leader, explains why viewpoint diversity is not about partisan quotas, but about strengthening scholarship through rigorous disagreement. He reflects on Wyoming’s adoption of institutional neutrality, the importance of time-place-manner protections for expressive activity, and the difficult leadership decisions that followed October 7 and subsequent campus tensions.

The conversation explores how public universities balance First Amendment obligations with community responsibility, why “cancel culture” is often rooted in weakened scientific norms, and how land-grant institutions uniquely serve the public through two-way engagement.

Ultimately, this episode asks: How can universities rebuild public trust while remaining places of fearless inquiry?

In This Episode:

💥 The crisis of public trust in higher education

💥 Viewpoint diversity vs. partisan representation

💥 Institutional neutrality in practice

💥 DEI reform and state legislative pressure

💥 Free speech and expressive activity policies

💥 Scientific norms and intellectual humility

💥 The role of land-grant universities in American democracy

💥 Leadership during campus controversy

About Ed Seidel:

Ed Seidel serves as President of the University of Wyoming. In this role, he oversees the state’s land grant and flagship institution, with responsibilities that include academic programs, research activity, student experience, and external partnerships.

An accomplished theoretical physicist, Seidel has built a distinguished career at the intersection of science, technology, and leadership. Before joining the University of Wyoming, he served as Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Illinois System and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also founded and directed the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, a globally recognized hub for advanced computing and data science.

Follow Ed Seidel: https://x.com/uwyoseidel

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At a moment when higher education faces accelerating technological disruption and intensifying public scrutiny, Cornell Provost Kavita Bala argues that universities must do two things at once: defend their truth-seeking mission with renewed clarity, and reimagine how they teach, research, and engage society in an era shaped by AI, polarization, and declining trust.

Today, John Tomasi welcomes Kavita Bala to discuss Cornell’s approach to fostering a durable culture of open inquiry based on idea exchange, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement. Drawing on her experience as an AI researcher and Cornell provost, Bala explains how the “two-sided coin” of technology requires a university that integrates STEM and humanities to address issues like algorithmic bias and public trust.

The conversation also discusses Cornell’s recent shift toward institutional restraint. Bala explains Cornell’s approach to expressive activity and campus programs that foster dialogue, such as the Center for Dialogue and Pluralism (CDP) and a new Arts & Sciences course on Disagreement.

In This Episode:

💥 AI as both opportunity and destabilizer in higher education

💥 Declining public trust in universities—and in science

💥 Cornell’s land-grant mission and bidirectional knowledge exchange

💥 Institutional restraint and departmental speech norms (including dissent reporting)

💥 Expressive activity policy and time/place/manner principles

💥 Student dialogue-building via CDP and the course “Disagreement”

💥 Viewpoint diversity through research design

💥 “Any person, any study” as a living institutional ideal

About Kavita Bala:

Kavita Bala is the 17th provost of Cornell University and a professor of computer science, bringing deep experience across research, academic leadership, and entrepreneurship. Before becoming provost on January 1, 2025, she served as the inaugural dean of the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science and previously chaired Cornell’s Department of Computer Science. As dean, she helped secure the naming gift for the Bowers College, expanded faculty capacity, and advanced major initiatives in AI and interdisciplinary computing.

Bala’s scholarship spans computer vision, computer graphics, and artificial intelligence, with contributions to image understanding and the modeling of complex materials, including work on recognizing styles and object attributes. She also co-founded the visual search startup GrokStyle, which was later acquired by Facebook. Her honors include being named an ACM Fellow and receiving the SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award. She earned a B.Tech. from IIT Bombay and an M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from MIT.

Follow Kavita Bala on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kavita-bala-052409/

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How can universities rekindle public trust and foster genuine viewpoint diversity, without relying on government mandates? Today’s guest is Mary Kate Cary, adjunct professor at the University of Virginia (UVA), seasoned presidential speechwriter, and co-chair of Heterodox Academy’s campus community at UVA. John Tomasi and Mary Kate examine the urgent need to move beyond top-down reforms and build cultures of open inquiry from the ground up.

Drawing on recent Gallup polling that shows public confidence in higher education has plummeted from 60% to 32%, Mary Kate argues for bottom-up solutions rooted in the distinctive ethos and history of each campus. She shares examples of innovative, student-facing programming at UVA, such as “Think Again,” “Free Speech Fridays,” and “Disagree with the Professor,” that encourage intellectual humility, critical thinking, and constructive disagreement.

The conversation provides actionable insights for faculty, administrators, and students committed to strengthening open inquiry and viewpoint diversity, highlighting the role of both faculty leadership and supportive administration in achieving durable change.

In This Episode:

💥 Public trust and viewpoint diversity in higher education

💥 Adapting free speech principles to unique campus histories

💥 Bottom-up versus top-down academic reforms

💥 Student engagement initiatives: “Think Again” and “Free Speech Fridays”

💥 Co-teaching across political divides at UVA

💥 Institutional neutrality and its impact on campus culture

💥 Partnerships with BridgeUSA, Braver Angels, and Disagree Better

About Mary Kate:

Mary Kate Cary is Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the Interim President at the University of Virginia and a long-time advocate for open inquiry, free speech, and viewpoint diversity on campus. She previously served as an adjunct professor in UVA’s Politics Department, where she taught courses on political speechwriting, the greatest speeches in American history, and co-taught a bipartisan election class. Cary is the founding director of Think Again at UVA, a student-facing initiative promoting free speech, critical thinking, and respectful debate, and she co-chairs the Heterodox Academy Campus Community at UVA, one of the largest chapters of the organization. Before her work in higher education, Cary was a White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and has worked as a political commentator, professional speaker, and writer. She was a recipient of the 2024 Heterodox Academy Open Inquiry Leadership Award for her efforts in advancing open inquiry and constructive disagreement on campus.

Follow Mary Kate on X: https://x.com/mkcary

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