Escort French author around university (5)
I believe the answer is:
guide
'escort' is the definition.
(guide is a kind of escort)
'french author around university' is the wordplay.
'french author' becomes 'gide' (I've seen this before).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'university' becomes 'u'.
'gide' going around 'u' is 'GUIDE'.
(Other definitions for guide that I've seen before include "Pilot" , "One shows the way to others" , "Direct, influence" , "Navigate" , "Usher" .)