Rob Vischer

Higher Education’s Role in Fostering Civil Discourse

The University of St. Thomas president discusses the evolving work of universities in helping students reduce political acrimony and form whole-person character, prepared for constructive civic engagement.

An interview in the series: “Restoring Trust in Our Minnesota Institutions”

June 15, 2026

Panelists: Paul Ostrow, Feven Tesfaye, Helen Baer, Lee Munnich

Summary

Rob Vischer draws on his experience as president of the University of St. Thomas to assert that higher education's greatest value lies not in job placement, but in preparing students for lifelong flourishing — equipping them with integrity, purpose, and the capacity for authentic human connection. In an era of AI and deepening political polarization, he upholds that universities must be intentional about building a "culture of encounter," where every person feels seen, known, and loved.

Background

Vischer became the 16th president of the University of St. Thomas in 2023. He joined St. Thomas in 2005 as an associate professor of law and was appointed dean of the law school in 2013. He holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and served on the Harvard Law Review. In 2025, Twin Cities Business Magazine named him its Person of the Year.

Discussion

“So many students today have grown up in a world where they have not seen healthy, productive civil discourse. So we have to model.” — Rob Vischer

What is the value of a college education today?
Vischer says the perception that college's value has declined may be outpacing the reality. At St. Thomas, 98% of the class of 2025 had positive career outcomes, 89% had secured positions before graduation, and the median starting salary was just over $70,000. But economic return on investment (ROI), he says, is only table stakes. Today's college-age adults are the loneliest generation in America, with a majority reporting a lack of purpose or meaning. Vischer says, the deeper value of higher education is preparing young people for lifelong flourishing, not just for careers.

How is AI affecting civic discourse and higher education?
AI will accelerate the tendency for people to slip into self-curated information bubbles that reinforce what they already believe. Vischer encourages students to strengthen their media literacy and to be intentional about seeking sources that challenge and expand their perspectives. Internally, St. Thomas is managing AI through nine working groups and an external advisory panel of industry experts. The goal is to integrate AI in ways that strengthen human relationships: for instance, using AI to handle routine academic advising checklists, so faculty can spend more time on deeper conversations with students. St. Thomas notably chose to have a human being announce every graduate's name at commencement, a decision that drew cheers from the graduates. “There is a real hunger among this generation to keep the authentic human at the center of their experience.” 

How do you foster civil discourse on campus? 
Vischer says St. Thomas takes a two-pronged approach: creating opportunities for students to participate in civil discourse, and also modeling respectful disagreement. “So many students today have grown up in a world where they have not seen healthy, productive civil discourse. So we have to model.” For example, the law school has a series called "Hot Topics, Cool Talk," which brings together dissenting topical experts who disagree to debate over a shared meal. 

Regarding student opportunities, the school offers a club called Bridge St. Thomas, which pairs students with opposing views for structured dialogue. “Too often we treat political agreement as a precondition for relationship, and that’s getting it totally backward,” Vischer says. So another campus engagement initiative called the Six-Word Memoir helps diverse students build personal connections entirely apart from political alignment.

Does higher education have a liberal bias?
Vischer acknowledges that university faculties do skew left, but says the more fundamental threat to higher education is an emerging populist sentiment on both the right and the left that views universities as part of an out-of-touch elite. This threat will not disappear with any particular administration. Some of that criticism is well placed. Rather than defend higher education as a whole, his approach at St. Thomas is to tell the institution's own story honestly, and make sure that everything they do is good for students. St. Thomas has a politically diverse campus, encourages open discourse across viewpoints, and consistently ranks among Minnesota colleges with the highest student voter participation rates.

What are the most important traits in the age of AI?
A survey of business leaders cited integrity, vision, inspiration, motivation, and drive as the most critical qualities in the AI era – distinctly human attributes. Vischer sees this as vindication for the liberal arts. As AI automates cognitive tasks at an accelerating pace, universities that focus solely on teaching a fixed set of professional skills will find that universe shrinking. Those who develop students' deeper human attributes will be preparing them for whatever the future brings.

What is hopeful about the next generation’s ability to cut across polarization?
Vischer finds today's students more sincere and less cynical than his own generation was at their age. They are genuinely interested in questions of purpose and meaning and are more focused on understanding themselves and others than on winning arguments. They want authentic connection, which makes them, in his view, well-suited to navigate a polarized world.

What is the "culture of encounter"?
Drawing on Pope Leo's call in his encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity) to ensure every person feels seen, known and loved, Vischer has made the "culture of encounter" central to St. Thomas's identity. He illustrated with a story that captures his vision: A freshman emailed his father to share that a St. Thomas food-court worker greeted him by name every day, told him something funny, and started preparing his favorite sandwich before he even ordered. That, Vischer said, is the culture of encounter. It is available to everyone, and it is what St. Thomas is trying to build. He says, "Our greatest aspiration for our graduates is not that they get a job. ... it's that you'll emerge from your time at St. Thomas with the unshakable knowledge that you are loved, that your life has purpose, that your work has meaning." 

Final thoughts

Asked what gives him confidence that trust in our civic institutions can be rebuilt, Vischer chose his words carefully: not confidence, but hope. He believes the current climate of outrage and division is exhausting, and that pendulums tend to swing back. He expressed hope that more reasonable voices will rise and demonstrate that we don't have to live in animosity. We can live in relationship.