Judgment, Empathy, Courage: The New Outcomes of College
If AI can instantly generate answers, what is college really for? Western Michigan University President Russ Kavalhuna argues that the true value of higher education lies in developing people, beyond granting degrees. Through high-stakes experiences in businesses, aviation hangars, design studios, and even cold-case investigations, students practice judgment, empathy, and courage in real-world communities. These human capacities—shaped by responsibility to others—are the new, essential outcomes of college in an age of intelligent machines.

Mini-Bio
Western Michigan University President Russ Kavalhuna is a former airline captain, aviation executive, and federal prosecutor who has led at the intersection of complex systems, public service, and education. Before returning to WMU, he served seven years as president of Henry Ford College, where he built partnerships that expanded real-world learning and workforce pathways. A Presidential Leadership Scholar and co-chair of Michigan’s statewide higher education workgroup, he brings a results-driven, human-centered lens to how colleges form the leaders our communities need.