Q&A: President Jonathan Levin looks back on his first quarter

In a Friday interview with The Daily marking the end of his first quarter as Stanford’s president, Jonathan Levin ’94 reflected on the major events that have driven campus conversations this year.

He commented on a contract agreement with the graduate workers union, free speech guidelines, the future of the creative writing program and potential legal action against a Daily reporter who covered last year’s occupation of Building 10.

As president-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, Levin said it was “important for Stanford to work closely with every administration,” and expressed measured support for Trump appointees David Sacks ’94 and Stanford Medicine professor Jay Bhattacharaya MD ’97 Ph.D. ’00. While he did not commit to specific actions, Levin said the University was prepared to support international students who might face travel or visa restrictions.

An economist and former dean of the Graduate School of Business (GSB), Levin became Stanford’s 13th president on Aug. 1. His succession of interim president Richard Saller followed a tumultuous year of campus protests over the Israel-Gaza war that intensified scrutiny of university presidents across the country.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Reflecting on your first quarter as university president, what have been the most significant highlights and challenges for you?

Jonathan Levin (JL): I started this year with a real sense of optimism, and also some uncertainty given all of the campus dynamics around the country last year. The first priority that Provost Martinez and I set for the year was to strengthen the culture of inquiry at Stanford and to foster constructive dialogue. I’m very happy about how that’s going. 

We’ve had seminars, discussions and conferences on the election, the Middle East, COVID policy. There have been forums for discussion even on contentious topics. We announced the new ePluribus initiative, and I love that the faculty are volunteering to host discussions in the dorms — that’s part of the “Pizza, Politics and Polarization” series. I really believe that Stanford can be a model for how students approach each other with curiosity and with open minds.

We had two other main priorities for the year that we talked about in our first interview. The second is to advance Stanford’s leadership in AI and data-driven discovery. We opened the Stanford robotics center this quarter and it’s amazing to see the work that the faculty and the students from different departments are doing — everything from autonomous drones to household robots. We opened the new high-performance shared computing facility, and that’s one of the leading academic facilities for research computing, and there [are] incredible opportunities there.

The third priority we set was to help make Stanford work better for faculty, students and staff. We tasked John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82, the former provost, Richard Saller, our former president and [vice president for university affairs] Megan Pierson to lead a simplification initiative to reduce frictions and help make it easier to get things done. Everyone at Stanford wants to see the administrative parts of the university, which play an essential role supporting research and teaching, be enabling forces for faculty and students.

The last thing I’ll say is, it’s been a joy to get out around campus and meet students, faculty, staff and alumni. Every day I walk on campus, and I’m reminded how extraordinary this place is. The range of talent and ideas at Stanford [is] extraordinary. The fact that we can give students and faculty such freedom to be ambitious and to accomplish great things, it’s inspiring.

TSD: Yes, I wanted to ask about those three goals you talked about. On the other hand, what about serving as president has been most challenging for you?

JL: Finding time to do everything. The number of people that I would like to spend time talking with and learning from exceeds the 24 hours in a day, seven days a week constraint. I have to work on that.

TSD: On that note, you’ve made a few visible appearances at student organizations, including the running club, Gaieties and kayaking club. What inspired those visits?

JL: Oh, spending time with students has been the most fun part of the quarter. The events that you mentioned — going running with [Stanford] Running Club around Campus Drive, Gaieties, having lunch with the Knight-Hennessy scholars [and] going a few weeks ago to the Arrillaga pool with the Stanford Kayak Club — I’m just so impressed with the students and the energy and creativity. That has been a real pleasure.

TSD: With the second Trump presidency just over a month away now, some universities, including Harvard, MIT, USC and Columbia, have advised international students to return to campus early, given potential travel bans or changes to immigration rules. Will Stanford take a similar step?

JL: Let me say a few things about the incoming administration and the future of the next couple of years. Where I would start is, universities play a very distinctive role in this country, and our relationship with the government is essential to that role. Universities are the home of new ideas and scientific research, and the federal government is by far the largest investor in supporting research universities, and that means supporting our faculty and our students. 

Historically, every administration has supported that because they recognize it’s a source of strength for the country, that the U.S. is a global leader in science and technology, and we’re a beacon for talented people from around the world. That’s because of our universities. So it’s important for Stanford to work closely with every administration, and we’ll do that with the current administration.

In terms of the support for international students, we have students from everywhere in the world at Stanford. That’s one of the greatest strengths of the University. Of course, we respect and follow the immigration laws. And, because it is so core to the research and teaching mission, this is also an area where we talk to Congress. Stanford has had a very long standing position that when it comes to attracting talented students from all over the world, we hope the federal government will be there to issue student visas, to provide opportunities for students to work in this country after graduation. That has historically been a great strength of this country and part of the reason that the country has been so successful.

TSD: To follow up on that, do you have anything to say to international students who might be reading this interview over break and thinking about how to approach new policies right now?

JL: In the first Trump administration, there were travel restrictions placed on a number of countries, including some countries from which we have students. What you’ve seen in recent weeks is that some universities have encouraged students from those countries to make sure they get to campus early. At Stanford, our quarter starts the first week of January. So students will be on campus [before Trump’s inauguration]. The University will make every attempt to be thoughtful and supportive of all of our students, including, if it happens, students for [whom] they may have more frictions in getting travel permission or visas.

TSD: President-elect Trump has also named a few Stanford affiliates to his administration, including Stanford Medicine professor Jay Bhattacharya MD ’97 Ph.D. ’00, who has been critical of COVID lockdowns, as director of the [National Institutes of Health]. Given that you previously spoke at the health policy symposium that he organized, I’m curious to know your thoughts on his appointment to that role.

JL: My feeling is that when people have the opportunity to serve the country, that’s a high calling. I was honored in the last administration to serve on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. I’m delighted that some of our faculty and alumni have already been asked to serve in important roles in the next administration, along with more than a dozen Stanford alumni in the next Congress.

Jay Bhattacharya has been nominated to be the director of the National Institutes of Health, which is the most important funder of biomedical research in the country, in fact in the world. I think he’ll do an exceptional job in that role.

TSD: Trump also named Stanford alumnus and venture capitalist David Sacks ’94, who was in your graduating class, as his AI and Crypto Czar. Do you have a perspective on his appointment?

JL: I’m glad to see a Stanford alum, especially one from my own graduating class, have a chance to serve, and also to have been asked to lead [the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology], which [I was] honored to have been part of.

TSD: Out of curiosity, did you know David Sacks at Stanford?

JL: We were in the same class. I probably met him at some point during the time. But we were not in close touch.

TSD: Do you have a response to the 26 press freedom organizations, Graduate Student Council and alumni who have criticized the University’s continued support for a criminal prosecution of Dilan Gohill ’27, the Daily reporter who was arrested in June while covering the occupation [of the president’s office]?

JL: I think Provost Martinez explained this with complete clarity last spring. The law provides very strong protections for reporters. That’s an important part of the freedom of the press in this country. And, it doesn’t provide a blanket protection for all behavior. In the case of our internal disciplinary process, it’ll be up to the faculty and the students involved in that process to make a determination.

In the case of the potential criminal charge, that’s not the University, that’s the Santa Clara District Attorney. They’ll make a determination as is appropriate.

TSD: Is it the University’s position that, when he entered the building, Dilan Gohill ’27 had a criminal intent that should be prosecuted?

JL: The University doesn’t have a position on that and isn’t involved in any way with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office. That’s entirely the domain of Santa Clara County.

TSD: One of the major events of this quarter was the negotiation with the Graduate Workers Union. Were you satisfied with the outcome of the University’s negotiations and the new contract, which includes a wage increase?

JL: We started this fall having spent almost a year in negotiation with the new graduate student union. It’s a first contract, and those take time. But frankly, when the year started, I was concerned about how things were going. Happily, we did reach a resolution, and I think it’s a very fair contract. I think it’s going to establish a foundation for a productive, long-term relationship with the graduate union that’s based on trust and mutual respect. We’re going to do everything we can to make that happen.

TSD: At the start of the quarter, the University also introduced some new guidelines around campus speech. Do you believe those changes have strengthened free speech at Stanford or, alternatively, created a chilling effect?

JL: We’ve had several policy changes at Stanford that I think have been important. Last spring, the Faculty Senate voted to institute the new institutional statements policy, which I supported, which makes clear that when it comes to current events, the role of the University is to provide a forum for discussion and debate.

To start this year, we tried to clarify both the very strong protections for free speech on campus and the rules around protest and disruption. Those rules exist to protect the freedom of students, faculty and staff at Stanford to study and conduct the essential work of the University. I’ve been very pleased this quarter that Stanford students have respected the policies, and have also engaged in a lot of robust conversation, debate and discussion exactly of the kind that we want to see.

What’s most important — and this is the responsibility of everyone on the campus — is that we nurture a culture that’s fundamentally open-minded. Where different viewpoints spark a discussion or even a sharp disagreement, but where everyone walks away and learns something. That’s really what campuses are about, because it’s a foundation for learning and advancing knowledge.

TSD: California recently passed a bill opposing legacy and donor preferences in admissions at universities. The most recent statement from the University was that Stanford would “continue to review its admissions policies” before the legislation goes into effect next year. What policy changes are currently under consideration?

JL: We’re still in the process of reviewing the law and trying to identify, ‘What are the options under the law for the future?’ I will say, this is an important issue for the University because people have very diverging views on admissions policies, really on all admissions policies. So it’s something that needs really careful thought and consideration, and that’s what we’ll try to give it over the coming months before the next admission cycle.

TSD: How is the University planning to address concerns among students about the future of the creative writing program?

JL: The creative writing program at Stanford is a gem. We have had so many students over the years who have benefited from both the wonderful teaching in the program and from the opportunity to engage in something that’s purely creative and exercises a different part of their minds. A good number of students have used that program as a launching pad to go on to great careers as writers. I think it’s always going to be a great strength of Stanford to have a creative writing program like that, that offers opportunities for students.

There’s been some disagreement about the changes the department made to focus some of the lecturer positions on younger scholars. Certainly I’ve heard about that. I know the leadership in the [English] department and the humanities and sciences school has been trying to talk with students and alumni who care deeply about the program.

The fact that people care so much about that program and the teachers is a testament to how successful it’s been and the impact that it has on people’s experience at Stanford. 

TSD: Going back to the conversation earlier about emerging technologies, are you at all concerned about the potential impacts of AI on students’ learning?

JL: I think AI is going to change education in very profound ways. Not necessarily this year, maybe not even in the next five years, but eventually. Because so much of education, both at the primary level and at universities, is about being able to process and synthesize information, to be able to articulate ideas. And then, of course, other areas like coding, mathematics and so forth.

These are just the basic AI models now, the first generation of models that already are pretty good at doing those things that we spend so much time teaching in schools.

Right now, everyone’s focused on the threats that that poses to assessment of work, to cheating, to authenticity of work — and that’s appropriate. We have to think about those things. But ultimately, what needs to happen is much more fundamental. It’s about, ‘How will we use these tools to rethink the way we teach, what people need to learn?’ 

That is a great opportunity for a place like Stanford, and for Stanford faculty and students to be at the forefront of thinking about how we can integrate these tools. No one would teach statistics or math and say, ‘You can’t use a calculator, you can’t use a computer to do the work.’ That’s integrated into the teaching. What can be done in those fields is vastly more than 40 years ago, and the same will be true of AI.

It’s just we’re at the very early days, so we’re at the beginning stages of figuring it out. To me, we have to deal with the near-term threats and challenges. But ultimately, this is an incredible opportunity for education, and it’s really one of the most exciting things that’s happened in education in years.

Can I ask myself one question?

TSD: Sure, go ahead.

JL: One thing I thought I should say something about is athletics.

Stanford has a really unique tradition in athletics. Not many schools compete with Harvard, Yale and MIT for academic excellence and compete on the playing field with Ohio State, UCLA and Texas — and we do at Stanford. It’s part of the fabric of the university, especially for Stanford alumni. The last time Stanford played in the Rose Bowl was the largest alumni gathering in the history of the University. I think everyone was very proud of this summer, when we had 59 students and alumni in the Paris Olympics, 

We are now facing some very significant challenges, from the professionalization of college athletics, moving to the ACC and financial challenges. So what we have to do is chart a Stanford path in this new landscape. That means, first and foremost, ensuring that student athletes at Stanford are Stanford students first. That’s why they come to Stanford rather than go somewhere else. It also means ensuring that athletics is financially sustainable (we’re going to need the help of our alumni to make sure that happens) and ensuring that we’re competitive. 

We do something at Stanford — we strive for excellence. That has been on my mind this quarter, and I look forward to working with everyone at Stanford to chart a successful course for our athletics program in the future.

TSD: Thank you. My last question is, do you have any specific plans in mind for next quarter or the rest of the year?

JL: I’m really excited for the rest of the year. This quarter, it was such a pleasure to get started in this role and get to work with Provost Martinez and everyone at Stanford, and to have the chance to meet so many people. When I look forward to the rest of the year, we have the priorities that we just talked about — I’m excited to take those forward. I’m excited to spend more time thinking about the next five or 10 years. I’m excited to meet even more students and faculty. Stanford’s a big place, and there’s a lot to learn. One quarter is a good start, but there are still so many people to meet and so much to learn in my first year. I can’t wait to come back in January and see what’s ahead.

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