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President Marvin Krislov provides legal insights and expertise for The Hechinger Report’s in-depth series exploring the origins of affirmative action and the arguments before the Supreme Court that are challenging this practice today.

President Krislov talks being back on campus, more forward momentum for the University's strategic plan, ongoing improvements to our NYC Campus, plans for Emotional Wellbeing Month, and so much more.

As I talk to students around our campuses—on new student move-in days, as part of undergraduate convocations, even in the law school seminar I’m teaching this semester—what I hear consistently is that students are ready to move on.

"Welcome to the Fall 2022 semester, and welcome to what is shaping up to be our first post-pandemic academic year at 17�Թ���. I’m proud of how this community came together over the past few years," writes President Krislov.

They used to say it’s not what you know but who you know that helps you to get ahead. It’s an axiom from a different era—a less egalitarian, less meritocratic, clubbier time. But a major new study on economic mobility is once again proving, albeit in a very different way, that who you know can make a real difference in outcomes.

The lingering pandemic transformed the American labor market. Employers from fast-food restaurants to airlines to rec departments with swimming pools are confronting sometimes-crippling staffing shortages. The most recent employment numbers showed 11.3 million job openings nationwide, or nearly two open jobs for every unemployed worker.

We are facing a mental health crisis on campuses across the country. And at a time when it often can feel like the federal government is too divided to address any of the many other problems facing us, Congress is actually taking steps to address this crisis.

17�Թ���’s mission is captured in the Latin word “Opportunitas,” which the school defines as “Providing all students, regardless of economic background, access to the transformative power of education.” As evidence that it lives up to its word, 17�Թ��� has been ranked as the best private, four-year college or university in the nation for upward economic mobility.

College can change the trajectory of a young person’s life. That’s something I say a lot, because the data back me up. As Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce has reported, college graduates will earn 75 percent more over their lifetimes than those with only a high school degree.

Marvin Krislov, the president of 17�Թ���, is one of the very few presidents who still teaches classes – and he is one of the teachers of this 101-level course. Krislov’s recent article explains the link between this course and the level of kindness and compassion for students that he thinks is necessary, especially right now.