In our contribution, we examine the responses of university presidents from selected research universities in Arizona, California, Michigan, and New York to the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza. We use these reactions as a basis to analyze the leadership challenges of universities. On one hand, university leadership plays a crucial role in connecting internal university management with national policies, legal frameworks, and the broader public. On the other hand, their leadership is shaped by the character of universities as knowledge-producing professional organizations and a governance structure that is both decentralized and significantly influenced by university boards. Consequently, the diverse reactions of university presidents to these events underscore the contested nature of leadership and highlight the challenges in managing and representing universities.
