Dedication of US university evident in discussion (10)
I believe the answer is:
commitment
'dedication' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'us university evident in discussion' is the wordplay.
'us university' becomes 'MIT' (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
'evident in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'discussion' becomes 'comment' (comment can mean discussion or debate).
'mit' going inside 'comment' is 'COMMITMENT'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for commitment that I've seen before include "Obligation" , "Pledge, undertaking" , "loyalty" , "Promise" , "Dedication" .)