To put it simply, school readiness means creating in this country a public love of children.

To push for excellence today without continuing to push for access for less privileged students is to undermine the crucial but incomplete gains that have been made. Equity and excellence cannot be divided.

The assumption of all education is that learning will be directed toward constructive ends and I'm convinced that colleges should support students in their determination to be useful, self-sufficient, and productive.

I am suggesting that quality in undergraduate education means giving students a perspective that is global.

We hear a lot of talk these days about teaching values in higher education. Frankly, I am not sure this can be accomplished through a separate course in morality or ethics. I am convinced, however, that values are sustained on campus by the honesty of our words, and by the confidence we have in the words of others.

An incompetent teacher is even worse than an incompetent surgeon because a surgeon can only cut up one person at a time.

Music gives us a language that cuts across the disciplines, helps us to see connections and brings a more coherent meaning to our world.