Last July President Nan Keohane, along with 41 other university presidents, penned a letter to President George W. Bush, urging him to reconsider his energy policy, which relies heavily on fossil fuels.
But such political activism is no longer common among university presidents. Keohane is likely to be remembered for the $2 billion capital campaign she led. But she, like many of her peers, may not leave as strong a political legacy.
Education experts say they have noticed that university presidents in general are less likely to speak publicly and passionately about controversial topics.
James Duderstadt, president emeritus of the University of Michigan and a scholar of the modern university, said presidents face a much more complex job, leading them to remain silent more often on political issues.
Duke President Emeritus Keith Brodie agreed. "The job has become more focused on fundraising," said Brodie, who led the University from 1985 to 1993. "You don't want to take a stand that will cause you to lose the ability to raise money from all segments of the University community, principally the alumni."
Brodie said that during his time, he argued forcefully on several issues, ranging from benefits for same-sex couples to divestment in South Africa. He said that the latter--during which Duke pulled its investments from the country in opposition to apartheid--in particular, was emotional and controversial.
"Many of the employees of those corporations populated the board rooms of trustees on university campuses," Brodie said. "There were student protests.... We sold stock in a number of companies represented around the board room table. A lot of alumni, many people wrote in saying it was bad. Presidents stood pretty tall on that issue."
Keohane said that when she decides to speak out, she has to consider that she represents both Duke and her own moral convictions.
"There has to be a balance between what I personally feel is morally and politically important and right and the recognition that whenever I speak, I can't just speak as Nan Keohane," she said. "[But] I don't think I should be constrained by my role from saying things that people don't agree [with]."
Duderstadt said these days it is common, and perhaps more effective, for presidents to speak as a group, just as Keohane did with her letter to Bush. "As individuals, we live in a world of sound bites," he said. "I don't think the credentials of a typical college president--although they may be impeccable--they generally are not very recognized by the general public or by public leaders."
Stanley Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education, said that today, politicians and the public are more likely to take the word of presidents on topics related to education.
"If you go back to an earlier generation, you find instances in which academic leaders did speak out on a broad range of issues, but it was also a quieter and simpler time," he said. "There were not a huge number of think tanks and experts and specialists that devoted full time to the study of complicated issues and were recognized as national authorities on those issues."
Instead, said Ikenberry, university presidents now pick and choose their issues carefully. And most constrain much of their public opinion to education, where they are more likely to have an effect.
Keohane said she, too, takes into account her credibility on an issue before speaking publicly about it.
"It's a far more complicated job in terms of the types of things that are happening," Keohane said.
"There's less time to stop and think. You don't want to go off half-cocked. You don't want to speak out on something and then have it be proved that you don't know what you're talking about."
The likelihood of success also plays a role in Keohane's public lobbying. For example, she has said she supports lowering the drinking age to 18, but has not made it a pet issue.
"Fighting for it would [be] bound to be a losing battle," Keohane said. "I'm happy to speak out on it, but not to fight for it, because I don't see any politically realistic way of doing that."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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