The last several years have shown how quickly and drastically the unthinkable can upend colleges’ expectations. That’s why college leaders must plan and prepare for managing the unimaginable.

Climate change and cyberattacks can seem so far-off that they become low priorities on a day-to-day basis, but their impact on colleges’ campuses, operations, and ability to achieve their missions can be existential. The effects of wildfires, floods, drought, and more-intense storms have already forced colleges to recover and rebuild, and many institutions are taking steps to adapt in anticipation of what’s to come. The risks aren’t just physical. Universities, with their vast storehouses of data, their ethos of providing access to information, and their highly distributed and decentralized operations, have become prime targets of hackers and other cybercriminals.

To manage these challenges, colleges will need to adopt a 21st-century conception of resilience — the ability to survive and thrive amid evolving and intensifying threats.