The deepening financial crisis that is now affecting markets and people around the globe gives new context to what the nation is facing. Americans cannot think of business as usual in any sector of public or private life, including higher education. President-elect Barack Obama will have very little financial latitude and enormous immediate problems, beginning with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a troubled health-care system, and the complex economic conundrum. It is time to strengthen and clarify the role that those at colleges and universities can play in this unsettling environment. The nation is at an unprecedented moment, one that higher education can seize as an opportunity to become a more crucial determinant of the direction taken by the United States. Higher education has not been on the national agenda except insofar as it is viewed as less and less affordable, and to some extent less relevant to a broad range of challenges. In effect, policy makers and the public view it as an elective at a time when more, not less, knowledge and preparation are needed to overcome national difficulties. That must change. In this article, the author calls on his fellow leaders in higher education--in community colleges, liberal-arts institutions, and research universities--to come together to make higher education more relevant on the national and international agenda.