Opinion: Higher education is a bridge that creates opportunity and knowledge for all
As I reflect on the state of higher education today, I find myself drawn back to the lessons of my childhood — a childhood shaped by the soil of the Mississippi Delta, by the resilience of my parents, and by the unwavering belief that education is an equalizer.
Growing up in the Jim Crow South on a 60-acre cotton farm, I learned early that the world does not always open its doors freely. But I also learned that the kindness and wisdom of others — no matter their background — could light the path forward. My white math teacher, Mrs. Hemphill, saw something in me and encouraged my love of numbers. Dr. Madison at Mississippi State University pushed me toward a future in higher education. Dr. Jackson, my minister, helped me find strength in faith. These individuals, each from different walks of life, helped shape me. They were a testament to something I hold as a guiding truth: education, when truly embraced, is not about division — it’s about connection and empowerment.
Today, we see higher education caught in the crosswinds. We watch as the cost of college becomes a barrier for too many students, and as the very institutions that should be sanctuaries of knowledge become battlegrounds for culture wars.
But we cannot let this chaos consume us, and we cannot let division define us. The true power of higher education lies in its ability to bring people together, broaden perspectives, and remind us that we are all part of this nation's history and its fabric, no matter where we come from, what we look like, or whom we love.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote from a Birmingham jail cell, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” Those words were true then, and they are true now. What affects one of us affects us all.
I’d like to tell a story here:
There was a man who wandered between villages, never staying too long in one place. One day, he came upon a river with a powerful current. He managed to cross it, though barely.
Instead of continuing on his journey, the man stopped, gathered wood, and began building a bridge. A traveler approached and asked, “Why are you building this bridge? You’ve already crossed.”
The man replied, “Because one day, someone else will come to this river — someone with fewer resources, someone more afraid. They will stand where I once stood, wondering if they can make it across. This bridge is not for me; it is for them.”
Higher education is that bridge. It has carried countless individuals over seemingly impassable waters. It has lifted voices that might otherwise have been silenced.
To be sure, higher education has been facing significant challenges. For many people, it may seem that burning bridges and building new paths would bring welcome change.
But I believe we must keep building. We must continue to create opportunities, open doors, and reinforce the idea that knowledge belongs to us all.
Higher education began as a pursuit for clergy and the children of wealthy businessmen and farmers, eventually expanding to include veterans, women, and people from traditionally underserved populations. Education has endured wars, economic crashes, segregation, and upheaval. And each time, it has emerged stronger — because at its core, education is about the human spirit, about the pursuit of something greater than the self. It is about passing knowledge from one generation to the next so that we might build a future more just, more inclusive, and more full of promise than the past.
The turbulence of today can’t make us forget the long arc of history. In every classroom, in every lecture hall, and in every mind opened by learning, there is the potential to transform not just one life, but the world. I am reminded of a quote by Nelson Mandela, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." That is something worth standing for.
Bennie L. Harris is chancellor at the University of South Carolina Upstate.