College President Sian Leah Beilock is one of eight public figures featured in former Slate Magazine editor Jacob Weisberg\u2019s book \u201cProfiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era,\u201d which was published on Sept. 15 and reached seventh on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list on Oct. 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In \u201cProfiles in Cowardice\u201d \u2014 an inversion of the title of former President John F. Kennedy\u2019s 1956 book \u201cProfiles in Courage\u201d \u2014 Weisberg profiles national leaders who he says \u201crecognized the danger\u201d that President Donald Trump \u201cposed to American values\u201d prior to his return to office in 2025 and \u201chad the ability to say no to him\u201d but did not, according to the book\u2019s introduction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about those \u2026 who at earlier moments showed flickers of integrity \u2014 but who, when a more serious test came, failed to act courageously, in ways that reveal both their moral weakness and the fragility of the institutions they represented,\u201d Weisberg wrote.<\/p>\n
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Weisberg said he was inspired to write the book by the \u201cwave of capitulation by institutions and leaders\u201d between President Donald Trump\u2019s first and second terms. He focused on Dartmouth because of its \u201cfoundational role\u201d in establishing \u201cacademic freedom in the United States\u201d during the 19th century, he added. Amidst attempts to convert Dartmouth from a private institution to a state university, the Supreme Court decided<\/a> in the 1819 case Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward that Dartmouth would remain a private institution. The case set a precedent that states could not interfere with the administration of private corporations and institutions.<\/p>\n In addition to the chapter on Beilock, \u201cProfiles in Cowardice\u201d includes chapters on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; former President George W. Bush; former Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison chairman Brad Karp; political commentator Megyn Kelly; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts; and Blackstone chief executive officer Stephen Schwarzman.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the chapter on Beilock \u2014 titled \u201cChoke Theory: Sian Beilock,\u201d in reference to the title of her 2010 book, \u201cChoke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To\u201d \u2014 Weisberg argues that Beilock is \u201csubstituting a behavioral toolkit for a moral compass\u201d in response to the Trump administration\u2019s attacks on higher education.<\/p>\n Beilock \u201ctreated a genuinely existential challenge to American higher education as if it were a text of flexibility, not of principle,\u201d Weisberg wrote in \u201cProfiles in Cowardice.\u201d \u201cShe kept her head down, kept her board and donors mollified and put her own career first.\u201d<\/p>\n A College spokesperson declined to comment on behalf of Beilock.<\/p>\n Weisberg points to the American Association of Colleges and Universities open letter, the institutional restraint policy and the response to the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education as examples of Beilock\u2019s capitulation to Trump. The Dartmouth reviewed the chapter about Beilock and contextualized Weisberg\u2019s claims with previous reporting and interviews with faculty members.\u00a0<\/p>\n American Association of Colleges and Universities open letter\u00a0<\/p>\n On April 22, 2025, the American Association of Colleges and Universities published a joint letter opposing \u201cundue government intrusion\u201d in higher education in response to the Trump administration cutting federal funding from six of the eight Ivy League schools. As of the time of publication, 666 schools have signed the letter; Dartmouth was the only Ivy League school to abstain<\/a>. In an email sent to campus on April 23, 2025 defending her decision, Beilock wrote<\/a> that she believes open form letters are \u201crarely effective tools to make change.\u201d Instead, the College submitted unsworn declarations in support of two Association of American Universities lawsuits opposing National Institute of Health and Department of Energy caps on universities\u2019 utilities, research administration and library costs.<\/p>\n In the book, Weisberg claims that Beilock\u2019s reasoning for not signing the AACU letter \u201cwasn\u2019t true\u201d given that she has written opinion articles for national publications in the past. As president of Barnard College, Beilock co-wrote a June 2022 New York Times letter to the editor<\/a> against the overturning of Roe v. Wade and a May 2023 CNN opinion column<\/a> advocating for more women and people of color in semiconductor-related sectors.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Beilock \u201cpledg[ed] to refrain from official commentary on political issues\u201d as Dartmouth president, Weisberg wrote. \u201cIt was a striking evolution for a leader who, a couple of years earlier, had championed anti-racism initiatives as an institutional responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n In April 2025, College spokesperson Kathryn Kennedy wrote in a statement to The Dartmouth that the AACU letter was \u201cdifferent\u201d from the op-eds Beilock previously co-wrote because its authors \u201cworked together to develop the language,\u201d as opposed to a \u201csymbolic form letter signed by hundreds of people, most of whom had no role in its creation.\u201d<\/p>\n Weisberg said during the interview with The Dartmouth that he did not see \u201cany meaningful difference between a letter to the editor signed by six people and the kind of group letter we\u2019re talking about with the AACU.\u201d<\/p>\n Institutional restraint<\/p>\n On Dec. 10, 2024, the College announced<\/a> that it was adopting an institutional restraint policy. The current policy<\/a>, which has not been modified since its adoption, states that the College and its \u201cinstitutional spokespersons\u201d will \u201cexercise general restraint in issuing institutional statements\u201d unless they are \u201con issues that affirm core values\u201d of the College.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dartmouth was the first Ivy League university to adopt an institutional restraint policy, garnering attention from other leaders in higher education and media outlets. Missouri State University president emeritus Michael Nietzel wrote a Forbes article<\/a> saying Dartmouth\u2019s policy could be a \u201cmodel for other institutions.\u201d The headline of an article in The New Yorker dubbed<\/a> Dartmouth \u201cthe Ivy League\u2019s Switzerland\u201d for largely evading targeted funding attacks and threats from the federal government. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression\u2019s 2026 report ranked Dartmouth<\/a> the highest in the Ivy League for free speech at 35th. Last year, Dartmouth ranked 224th.<\/p>\n Since adopting the policy, Dartmouth has joined three amicus briefs in support of lawsuits against the federal government over federal funding cuts<\/a>, constitutionally-protected speech<\/a> and the termination<\/a> of Harvard University\u2019s participation in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.<\/p>\n When asked about the amicus briefs the College has filed, Weisberg said they are not the same as \u201cdecrying attempts at political interference.\u201d<\/p>\n Amicus briefs are \u201cdifferent from what the open AACU letter said, which is \u2018you have no right to try to interfere in the academic affairs of the university,\u2019\u201d Weisberg said.<\/p>\n In the book, Weisberg claims that the \u201cpragmatic explanation\u201d for Beilock\u2019s \u201crestraint\u201d was that Dartmouth was the only Ivy League school that did not get \u201chit with a civil rights investigation\u201d and that \u201can influential advocate inside the [Trump] administration\u201d \u2014 \u00a0assistant attorney general for civil rights Harmeet Dhillon \u201989. On July 22, the Department of Education launched<\/a> a civil rights investigation into the Geisel School of Medicine over \u201calleged racial discrimination\u201d in admissions.<\/p>\n In an email statement to The Dartmouth, government professor Russell Muirhead wrote that \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of courage\u201d in the institutional restraint policy.<\/p>\n \u201cTo stand for an ideal of the university as an institution that is meant to harbor disagreement rather than impose an ideological monoculture requires, in the political atmosphere of the moment, courage,\u201d Muirhead wrote. \u201cThe cowardly thing to do was nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Computer science professor David Kotz \u201986, who served as provost from 2021 to 2025 and chartered the institutional restraint committee, said there are issues where Dartmouth is \u201cdecidedly not neutral.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI personally signed some of these declarations that were part of lawsuits, not just amicus briefs,\u201d Kotz said. \u201cWe felt that the government had overreached in some of its actions, and it was important to participate in suing the government, to reverse some of those decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education<\/p>\n On Oct. 1, the White House approached<\/a> Dartmouth and eight other universities for feedback on a \u201cCompact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.\u201d The compact asked universities to limit the enrollment of international students to 15%, limit grade inflation and adopt a binary definition of sex and gender, among other stipulations, in exchange for federal funding benefits.<\/p>\n The College was the last of the Ivy League universities that were initially approached by the Trump administration to reject<\/a> the compact. On Oct. 18, 2025, Beilock wrote an email to campus that the College would not sign the compact as doing so would \u201ccompromise our academic freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do not believe that a compact \u2014 with any administration \u2014 is the right approach to achieve academic excellence,\u201d Beilock wrote. \u201cI welcome further engagement around how we can (a) enhance the long-standing partnership between the federal government and this country\u2019s leading research universities and (b) ensure that higher education stays focused on academic excellence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In the interview, Weisberg said the tone of Beilock\u2019s Oct. 18 email was \u201csycophantic.\u201d<\/p>\n The compact \u201cis a bad-spirited, malicious effort by the Trump administration,\u201d Weisberg said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to dismiss that out of hand and not play footsie with them. She\u2019s instead played footsie with them.\u201d<\/p>\n Faculty reception of Weisberg\u2019s book<\/p>\n Religion professor Christopher MacEvitt \u2014 who introduced<\/a> a motion of censure against Beilock following the May 1, 2024, arrests<\/a> of 89 individuals, including himself, during a pro-Palestinian protest on the Green \u2014 wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that Beilock\u2019s \u201cstrategy\u201d of institutional restraint has \u201clead to a great deal of anxiety on campus,\u201d but disagreed with the book\u2019s title.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would have liked to see President Beilock speak up more forcefully in defense of the independence of academic study, and to position herself and the College as less accommodating to the Trump agenda,\u201d MacEvitt wrote. \u201cNevertheless, I am not sure that President Beilock\u2019s strategy deserves the label of \u2018cowardice.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Muirhead wrote that Beilock\u2019s ability to \u201ctake decisive action under conditions of disagreement\u201d reflect \u201ccourageous leadership.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not saying I agree with every one of President Beilock\u2019s decisions,\u201d he wrote. \u201cHer job is not to agree with me. The undeniable fact is that she is eager to engage those who disagree with her.\u201d<\/p>\n Government professor Sean Westwood wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that \u201creal change happens behind closed doors, in legal briefs and in meetings with political officials.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe president serves to protect the institution, not to advance her personal views or the political views of her faculty,\u201d Westwood wrote.<\/p>\n The Dartmouth contacted 22 individuals named either in Weisberg\u2019s chapter on Beilock or related coverage. Two referred The Dartmouth to other sources, two were not available for comment by the time of publication, three declined to comment and nine did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Sahil Gandhi<\/p>\n Sahil Gandhi \u201929 is a reporter from Staten Island, N.Y., and is majoring in environmental studies and government modified with philosophy and economics. He loves word searches and falling down internet and Wikipedia rabbit holes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"College President Sian Leah Beilock is one of eight public figures featured in former Slate Magazine editor Jacob…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-365816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}