For high quality Universities: Academics value academic freedom. They must have a central role in university governance April 13, 2021, 7:23 AM IST Bhagwan Chowdhry and Deepa Mani The recent exit of Pratap Bhanu Mehta from Ashoka University has put the spotlight on the role of universities and academic freedom and expression in modern India. As we usher in private investments and effect policies to allow foreign universities to open campuses and raise the standards of higher education in the country, it becomes critical to understand how these institutions of higher education should be governed to create 21st century equivalents of Oxford and Harvard.