Standing for Reason

"The book warmly and humbly renders the turning points of his life as a way of contextualizing Sexton’s fears about our present."—New Yorker  

"A forceful argument on behalf of the modern university. . . . Having established himself as a visionary when he was president of NYU, Sexton argues that a university that returns to basic principles and extends its horizons offers a remedy to the madness of our current political discourse. . . . Sexton clearly shows how less shouting and more listening can lead to a reclaiming of a lost middle ground.”—Kirkus Reviews

“This book is a very positive presentation of key elements in the future of universities.” –J.T. Rosenthal, Choice

"John Sexton, recently retired president of New York University, moves beyond . . . formulaic encomia to offer a clear description of reason in action as a cure for the mindless dogmatism that infects us in the age of Twitter."—George Dennis O'Brien, Commonweal 

“One of the leading educators of our time provides an incisive analysis of the collapse of political discourse, and offers a path forward—with our universities charting the course to more meaningful dialogue as the antidote. The result is a book that gives us hope for the future.”—Hillary Rodham Clinton

“I did not realize how hungry I was for such unrelentingly positive witness. John Sexton’s book is a stirring corrective to the rising tide of darkness, negative energy, and even cynicism. As political America cowers before "the other," whether immigrants from abroad or persons of color long at home on these shores, this celebration of differences rings with power. John invites the reader to lift the gaze up from the clutter and discouragement of the present moment (especially here in the US) and see the shape of a possible future, one full of promise.”—James Carroll, author of Constantine’s Sword

“With this wonderful book, John Sexton offers a lifetime’s worth of wisdom and a challenge to leaders everywhere. Every page radiates with John’s humor, his decency, and his fundamental good sense. This is an urgently important book, and it could not be more timely.”—Vartan Gregorian, former President of Brown, now President of the Carnegie Foundation

“In this challenging and deeply inspiring book, John Sexton has given us a vision of the university of the future as a guardian of civil debate, nuanced complexity and global intercultural understanding in a world urgently in need of all three. A fine credo from one of the master architects of higher education in our time.”—Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, author of The Dignity of Difference

“John Sexton has been a remarkable university president. The enlightened pages of this book are a product of his thought, experience, and, above all, his passion about the future of universities.”—Robert Berdahl, former president of the University of Texas at Austin, the University of California (Berkeley), and the Association of American Universities (53)