BEREA, Ohio — Lee Fisher, the familiar face of Ohio politics who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1995 and lieutenant governor from 2007 to 2011, has taken on a new role as president of Baldwin Wallace University.
In his first television interview since assuming the position on July 1, Fisher spoke candidly about the challenges facing higher education and his vision for the university's future.
Earlier this summer, the school announced it had completed raising nearly $2.5 million, almost double what it did last year.
Watch or read the Q&A below:
News 5: Is there one thing you want to see change when it comes to higher education, not just at Baldwin Wallace?
Fisher: I think the single most important thing is affordability.
I never want to see higher education beyond the reach of any student or any family. That should be our number one concern in higher education nationwide.
So if there's only one thing I could say to our legislators, any one thing I could say to all of our elected officials, and I was one: do everything you can to help make college more affordable at every level, whether it's private or public.
News 5: Do you think Baldwin Wallace is affordable right now?
Fisher: I think we're very affordable. It doesn't mean, however, that we always have to be focusing on that. We are very focused on giving scholarships to our students, keeping our tuition as low as possible, staying competitive, and looking for ways to cut costs all the time so we can make it more affordable for students.
News 5: What should people take away when they see that sticker price [for the cost of attendance at Baldwin Wallace] that runs from $60,000-$67,000 a year?
Fisher: I think what they should be looking for is ‘are they getting their return on investment?’
Every parent, every student should look at every college and say, ‘Will my student graduate with a piece of paper or will they graduate with a job and a career and a path to a meaningful life?’
And there are some places where they'll get a nice piece of paper they can frame on their wall, but that's not what this education here at Baldwin Wallace is all about. It goes far beyond walking on the stage and getting a diploma.
It's preparing students for being leaders, having a fulfilling, meaningful career. And also have the skills not just for today's workforce but for tomorrow's workforce.
News 5: What was it like for you coming into [this position] at the state of where higher education is right now?
Lee Fisher: I suppose my timing could have been better. The headwinds facing higher education have never been stronger, and it's not just Baldwin Wallace.
It's every institution you can think of in Northeast Ohio, and for that matter, all around the country: a shrinking 18-year-old population, a number of employers saying you no longer need a four-year degree to be employed, lots of competition here in Ohio, more colleges and universities in our state than almost any other state in the country.
You add those things together, that's a lot of headwind. And given that headwind, you have to be stronger, you have to be bolder, you have to take risks, and you have to be very strategic.
News 5: What do you mean by "take more risks?"
Fisher: I mean by understanding that there's always change. If you're stagnant, if you're only focused on doing what you did yesterday, then someone's going to pass you by.
We need to be focused on honoring our historic roots, yes, but I always want to be focused on looking for new markets of students that maybe we've never tapped before, new curriculum for students like artificial intelligence, areas in which we are always at the frontier.
News 5: What do you see happening with Baldwin Wallace over these next couple of years?
Fisher: I think that in a sense, BW stands for building what's next. Every college and every university has to build what's next, and that's exactly what we're doing.
We're actually putting together a transformational action plan so that we do what Wayne Gretzky said made him a Hall of Fame hockey player: He knew how to skate where the puck was going.
That's what you have to do if you want to be a successful university or college.
So we're going to make sure that our students are leader-ready.
News 5: Do you see when this transformational plan is done any similarities to what happened in 2024, where 10 programs were impacted and 64 employees were laid off?
Fisher: I think it's fair to say that what goes in the future is that we're going to look at every academic offering we have and we're going to see, ‘does it align with student demand and workforce demand?’
We haven't made any conclusions yet, but that's what you have to do. Make sure it focuses on what students are looking for and what Cleveland's workforce talent pipeline is looking for.
News 5: We've seen a lot of intervention when it comes to education and politics. What role does diversity, equity and inclusion have on campus?
Fisher: I think the bottom line here is that we have to look at diversity in a different way, and that is diverse political perspectives, diverse views.
When you get people together in a setting and they all look alike and they all think alike, that's not good for any organization.
It's not good for any community, and I think you don't have to be Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal to see the value in having people with different ideas, different perspectives, and different backgrounds.
News 5: What has it been like for you seeing this attempted intervention from the federal government on college campuses?
Fisher: I always try to give everybody the benefit of the doubt and assume that the reason the federal government and the state government are looking at this is they realize that the single most important thing the federal government and the state government can do is to make sure that the next generation are leaders and that they have jobs and careers and that we're filling that talent pipeline.
Everybody has different views on how to do it, and I respect that.
My view is let the educators be educators and let the educators be able to take a look at what's going on in the future, make sure they don't stay stagnant, listen to the advice of everyone around us.
We should always be open to different people's advice, including legislators, including governors, including a president.
But in the end, I believe in a society that says: empower people to make their own decisions. I think that's the best way to go.
News 5: Here in Northeast Ohio, we've seen Ursuline College merge with Gannon University. We saw Notre Dame College close. Does Baldwin Wallace have anything to worry about?
Fisher: The answer is we don't have anything to worry about as long as we continue on this path that we are for the transformational path forward.
The answer is that every college and university always has to be focused on its future, and it also has to be fiscally responsible.
We are.
We've made some very painful decisions over the last 18 months, but as a result of those painful decisions, which were necessary, we're in a strong place right now.
The key, though, is never to take our eye off the ball. We've got to get stronger and stronger and stronger.
But yes, BW will be here for at least another 180 years.
RELATED: Could more NE Ohio colleges close or merge in the near future? Experts say yes.
News 5: What was it like for you, though, seeing those other small private colleges going through, whether it was full closure or just merging?
Fisher: Every job I've had has been a challenge. I've never had a job that didn't have a challenge. I can't think of a single one.
When I was the dean of Cleveland State's Law School, we had the largest deficit of any college on the campus of Cleveland State University 9 years ago.
There was at least some rumors that the law school might have to close because we had the lowest enrollment we had had in more than 50 years. Ninety-eight students in the first-year class. Compare that to 300 students in the year 2000.
It was a challenge, but working with a great team of people, we turned it around. And when I left a few months ago, we were running a healthy surplus. In fact, we probably have the largest surplus of any college on the campus, and we had the largest first-year class in 15 years.
So I can't say we can duplicate it, but all I can say is that I'm used to challenges, and that's sort of what excites me. I've never had an easy job, and this job certainly isn't easy.
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard, on Facebook Clay LePard News 5 or email him at Clay.LePard@WEWS.com.
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