Colleges and their personnel have long been targets for propaganda and harassment. Given the combustibility of political tempers in recent years, college leaders aren’t doing their jobs if they aren’t monitoring and preparing to counter threats beyond campus gates.

For  Managing Political Tensions, The Chronicle interviewed several dozen experts on politics, extremism, hate groups, psychology, media and civic literacy, campus security and policing, and risk management. This tense historical moment presents clear challenges to colleges, but could also help clarify how advancing their missions both advance and depend upon essential democratic values that they may have taken for granted.