In many quarters, the job of presidents increasingly became one of raising endowment money and overseeing campus expansions. The inside joke was that college and university presidents suffered from an Edifice Complex. In the view of many college presidents, the economic crisis of 2008 was a tipping point. In its aftermath, a "new normal" is redefining higher education realities and reshaping the traditional role of college and university presidencies. Higher education leaders say they are less focused on empire-building and more attuned to financial management, institutional marketing, improving the customer experience, and finding ways of helping financially strapped families pay for college. Across higher education, presidents and their colleagues are attempting to define and respond to the new normal. They are assessing financial realities, reconsidering business models, and making what they hope will be the correct course adjustments. Some are rethinking destinations. In short, they are trying to be catalysts for change.