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Institutions of higher education (IHEs) have great collective capacity to address major societal challenges. This was apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as academic institutions in the United States and across the globe quickly mobilized to protect their students and staff, help develop and administer vaccines and diagnostic tests, and provide trusted information to caregivers, the public and government decision-makers. The strains that Earth's rapidly changing climate places on the economy, the environment, and society call for an even greater exercise of this capacity (Leal Filho et al. 2023, Lippel et al. 2024). Such calls are not new. In 2006, the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) encouraged IHEs to “model ways to minimize global warming emissions” and “provid[e] the knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve climate neutrality.” Nearly 20 years later, many IHEs are broadly engaged in deepening climate knowledge and preparing students to develop and implement climate solutions. Academic researchers are developing innovative low-carbon technologies and improved methods to build climate resilience. Many of the 284 signatories to the ACUPCC are decarbonizing their campuses and participating in the dramatic, market-driven transformation of global energy systems. IHEs across the nation are working with partners in the public, private, and social sectors to disseminate climate knowledge and solutions. But the escalating scale and pace of the climate challenge, with extreme heat, floods, droughts, and fires battering campuses and communities, call for a more robust and better coordinated response.