YSU Indiana University president speaks on academia's role

YOUNGSTOWN -- Dr. Myles Brand, president of Indiana University since 1994, came to Youngstown State University to talk about something he's most known for: firing basketball coaching legend Bobby Knight.
But if ever there was a time that basketball, and intercollegiate athletics in general, seemed insignificant, it's now, Brand said.
"In the grand scheme of things ... there are more important things in the world," he said.
So, as U.S. warplanes bombed Afghanistan for a third consecutive day Tuesday, Brand changed gears and instead talked about the important part higher education needs to play in the current crisis.
"University campuses will become the focal point of discussion" about terrorism and the United States' response, he said. "That's our enduring role."
Brand, provost of The Ohio State University and president of the University of Oregon before going to IU seven years ago, said the nation's colleges and universities must use the intellectual power of its faculties to educate the general public, press and the government about the complexities of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Preserve debate: He said universities also must remain a place where ideas can be debated in a civil, informative manner.
"We must be on our guard to protect freedom of speech," he said.
At the same time, universities must take a strong stance against stereotyping against various religious and racial minorities.
"Some of our Muslim students were afraid to go out of their rooms, afraid to go to class," Brand said about the days after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
Although some universities closed the day after the attacks, Brand said he kept IU open.
"They were confused; they were angry; they were terrified," he said. "I didn't want 38,000 students with no place to go to talk about this."