2024-25 Academic Year-End Letter

To: The Caltech Community
From: Thomas F. Rosenbaum, Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair and Professor of Physics

When I last wrote you in December 2024, wishing you constancy and courage in the new year, I don't believe that any of us could have anticipated the tempest that ensued with the turn of the calendar. The Eaton fire swept through Altadena and surrounding neighborhoods in January 2025, uprooting Caltech staff, faculty, and students. Between campus and JPL, more than 300 lost their homes and thousands were displaced. The harsh reality is that it will take years to recover. At the same time, the support of a tightly knit, caring community became evident immediately. We found temporary housing for scores of victims and raised an astonishing $5 million plus for an emergency relief fund that was dispersed in short order and with little bureaucracy. Classes resumed within days and the research enterprise has continued to hum. Our shared mission of forefront research and education in service of society inspires all of us and makes manifest the need to buoy those in need.

The Santa Anas were followed in quick order by ill winds blowing from Washington, DC. A spate of executive orders and Congressional actions have assaulted higher education from every direction: attachment of funds, unilateral lowering of overhead reimbursements well below negotiated rates for actual costs, proposed slashing of the science budget by 50%, decimation of science agencies, many fold increases in the endowment tax, restrictions on international scholars. As we attempt to navigate this treacherous landscape, it is helpful to step back and ask, what is our role and what are our responsibilities as a research university in a democratic society? 

For generations, the relationship between universities and the federal government has been governed by a mutually beneficial social compact. In return for tax exempt status, universities support our democracy by educating informed and involved citizens, and by translating fundamental discoveries into technologies that drive our economy, strengthen our national defense, and improve people's lives and health. Since World War ll, the research mission of the university has been amplified by substantial government investment, leading to a rise in standards of living, longer and more productive life spans for our citizens, and protection from external threats.

The American higher education system is arguably the most successful industry in the country in terms of demand, output, and longevity. With only 4.5% of the world's population, the United States has competed successfully against all comers by becoming the destination of choice for many of the world's most talented, creative, and ambitious individuals, many of whom are drawn to our shores by our preeminent college and university system. Historically, a high proportion of these immigrants (fully 75% according to government data) have stayed and applied their skills for the betterment of society as American citizens. Caltech is no exception. Roughly half of our graduate students are international; approximately 45% of our faculty were born abroad; and close to 40% of American Nobel Prizes in the sciences were awarded to researchers who emigrated to the United States.

At a time when the social compact between universities and the government is fraying, what can we do? I believe that it is incumbent upon us to distill the essential components that permit universities to fulfill their missions as creators of knowledge and bulwarks of democracy. We can only meet the challenges of the day by sharply articulating our principles and staying true to them. Prominent among these principles are:

1. Intellectual freedom. Knowledge emerges from the clash of ideas, honed by testing arguments with those who disagree in an environment where an insight does not have to be popular to be correct. It requires an environment where the members of the community feel free to express their thoughts without fear of censorship (external or internal), to engage with contrary views, and to be willing to change their minds. This includes the ability of faculty to teach what they wish and universities to hire whom they wish, always consistent with an academically rigorous vetting process.
2. Institutional neutrality. Freedom of individual expression bears as well on the issue of formal institutional pronouncements. Universities should aim to create an environment where all members of the community are empowered to speak out about issues that matter to them and support that freedom and ability. All members of the community should feel free to take stances that may be unpopular, but reflect who they are and what they believe, without an official university position quenching that ability. Hence, it is prudent to confine official university statements to issues that bear directly on the core missions of research and education. This does not preclude an institutional response to worldly challenges through tangible intercessions that directly support at-risk members of the community, consonant with the university's mission.
3. Inclusive excellence. Knowledge is most effectively created by bringing together exceptional people of diverse perspectives, of different backgrounds, of distinct sensibilities, and letting them hone their conceptions of the world by expressing their views freely and, in colloquy, shaping each other's ideas. It requires fashioning a robust, civic space, welcoming to individuals from all backgrounds, prizing excellence, committed to rigorous inquiry, devoted to understanding the natural world and improving the human world. The most talented individuals have the most choices, and both the local environment (university ethos and policies) and the global environment (e.g., funding, immigration policy, freedom of expression) must be attractive for them to pursue their futures in the United States.
4. Free movement of people and ideas. Resources are an essential component of discovery and innovation, but the structure in which those resources are applied determines the level of success. The United States traditionally has valued and encouraged collaborations across disciplines, across university communities, and across national boundaries, all of which have been key to accelerating progress and vaulting American universities (and industries) into world-leading status.

What we do every day and what we do together matters. We believe in facts, we believe in truth, and we believe in science. We believe in challenging the accepted wisdom if the evidence drives us to that conclusion. We believe in learning from those who are different from us and those with whom we disagree, seeking to sharpen our own understanding. We believe in the transformative capacity of discovery, as a way to realize our human potential and as a means to improve the human condition. There is great power in this clarity and there is no more important time than now to demonstrate the constancy of our aspirations through our courage to defend our communal mission.