Reforming American colleges
I agree with this:
The issues in Academia go well beyond anti-Semitism; they go directly to the heart of what it means to be educated rather than indoctrinated. For the last several decades, progressive activists have transformed the former into the latter and imposed tribalism via DEI. That has created an environment on most campuses of extreme intolerance to differing points of view, and created leadership that quashes debate and dissent from the progressive-woke orthodoxy.
The proper approach is to defund Academia entirely, at least at the federal level. The federal government had no business goosing Academia’s business model in the first place, and the six-decade experiment has utterly failed. It has not improved education, but contributed to its destruction. The federalized loan program has turned at least two generations into debt paupers, and incentivized “debt forgiveness” at the expense of taxpayers who pay their own bills. And the tuition-support flood has created a massive administration class that operates politically rather than scholastically.
American education has become, for the most part, leftist indoctrination. That must change. Enormous damage has already been done to several generations, and it has consequences we’ve already seen. The hour is very very late. Those of us who’ve been writing about this for over a decade are happy to see the problem getting more attention, but until more is done it will remain a huge danger.
Cultural Marxism Seminaries- burn them down, salt the earth
There is no hope in my life time having taken my lifetime to get this way.
Ok, I went to college about 40 years ago and I can’t remember any professors talking about any political ideology at all. That’s the way it should be. Not ideology “pure” but neutral.
I don’t know what’s going on with college students today, but my college experience consisted of trying to pass my classes, meeting girls and partying.
The needed campaign slogan:
“Defund ALL Poisoned Ivies”
Further suggestions?
I went to college over 50 years ago and almost all my professors and TAs were explicitly left wing. When I say “almost all” I mean there were only about five who weren’t.
Not a few were outright (and outspoken) Marxists.
Well, I drifted through two years of college around 68 years ago and there was no political activity in class. And none on campus outside of internal politics. Lots of that training future politicians I presume. Of course WWII was very much in the rear view mirror, and Korea was winding down. The Vet population was significant, and the rest of the males were in compulsory ROTC.
I finished up in a Navy run school many years later as Vietnam was winding down. I think a number of the faculty were on the Left, but they were circumspect.
Back to today. I just don’t know what can be done. I doubt that the idea of skipping college is going to gain a lot of traction. Kids do not see alternative work paths as ‘fulfilling’. Alternatively, even with a concerted effort, I think that it would take a generation to weed out the rotten core on campus. OTH there is a lot of anger on the part of parents around the country with regards to the education system in general. If that could be organized, and sustained, it might have an effect.
The idea of de-federalizing college is a good one. The exponential growth of administrations at the college level is due almost all from the federal largess. Get rid of it and the pig trough dries up along with all those admin and DIE jobs.
Unfortunately, I can’t ever see it happening. Way too many forces working against it. It’s basically an education entitlement program, and we know how hard those are to uproot. The Democrats will never agree to such, and there are too many RINOS and moderate GOPers that will not go along either.
When I decided to go back to college it turned out that a new law took effect that month. “The National Defense Student Loan” program began Jan 1, 1959. I went in to the student aid office and applied. I was asked what my major would be and I answered “Pre-med.” I was told that the program did not loan money for that major as it was not considered useful. I don’t know when “Lesbian Dance Studies” qualified but that is an idea for control of the out of line majors we see now.
We may have to nuke them from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Example of how college and universities have changed. During the Vietnam War, one faculty member put a “peace in Vietnam” poster on his door. Two doors down, a another faculty member put an American flag on his door. In response, the faculty member in between put a Demilitarized Zone sign on his door. BTW, all three were veterans.
These days, a faculty member putting an American flag on his door would, at best, get the silent treatment from his colleagues. At best.
physicsguy has the right of it.
In grad school, I became aware of the institutional anti-Semitism of the Federal Government. US Department of Education FLAS Fellowships were available for people studying “Middle Eastern languages, including Turkish, Arabic, and Persian.” I just looked it up and apparently, they’ve added Hebrew. But back then, they never really said WHICH languages, but it was never for Hebrew.
Slowly, in the decades since I got my undergrad degree, Hebrew has moved out of “Middle Eastern Studies” departments over to Jewish Studies departments. When I was an undergrad, it was part of Near Eastern Studies. We had a different chairman every year: My freshman year, it was the Hebrew Professor from Israel. The next two years it was an Arabic professor from Iraq and another Arabic professor from Egypt. They were VERY GOOD at keeping politics OUT of the department. Then we got an American professor of Arabic. He totally submerged the department in the politics of the Middle East. Not long after, Hebrew moved over to Jewish Studies.
Getting the federal government out of higher education would be great.
Defunding is the best way to achieve change. However, as noted, the only way to do it is by winning elections. A Republican Senate, House, and POTUS could make the changes. As physics guy notes, it would drive a lot of the useless administrators out of academia.
Could such a thing happen (a GOP sweep of both houses and POTUS) in 2024? With the visibility that the three IVY presidents created, along with the antisemitism running amok, maybe the “silent majority’ will finally find its voice and speak loudly at the polls.
But the Republican politicians have to be willing to pursue the issues and say what needs to be done. It will take guts and statesmanship. Onward!
College rot includes decades of secret, illegal discrimination against hiring Republican professors.
Colleges with less than 30% Republicans, or less than 30% Democrats, should not get tax exemptions or other federal funds.
Diversity and Inclusion means free speech for those who disagree – or it’s not real diversity.
As physicsguy says, too many Dems are against cutting off all aid. JD Vance has introduced a 35% tax on big endowments. The gov’t cash going to Republican hating, and now Jew hating colleges will start getting a lot more scrutiny.
As will UN women’s orgs unwilling to immediately condemn the brutalization, rape, and torture of women.
A tweeter claims the girl hostages still held will never be released alive — their stories of treatment would be too much bad publicity.
Friendly fire killing is always so sad.
JJ notes that Republicans need to sweep House, Senate, and POTUS to achieve much. The last 90 years has had a lot more of Dem Presidents with both houses. Yet even then, many semi-RINOs can stop big changes.
FISA was reauthorized.
I certainly don’t disagree with any of the above, but I do think we on the right easily overestimate the impact of academics on young people. The vast majority of students will certainly regurgitate whatever their professors espouse, for that (all too common and inflated) expected ‘A’. But how many of them are persuaded by or even remember any of the pompous bile these professors spew…it’s at least debatable.
The larger issue is that you’re average 18 year old has already been well indoctrinated into woke dogma by the time he sets foot into his first Black Studies or Queer Theory class. By K-12 education, my Hollywood, by popular music, by the MSM, etc. All of this remains, even if we defunded every college in America.
Ackler:
Not only do they seem to remember it, but they have taken it into the workplace all over the US, and into the government as well.
Synthesizing Ackler and Neo on pompous bile retention, I think it likely that the aggregated chorus outweighs specific eruptions.
Although 90+% of professors have voted liberal for decades, being liberal was not as malignantly toxic as it has become. Bottom line: Skip’s Sodom and Gomorrah treatment (above top) is strongly indicated. Most of higher ed needs a deep reset.
And who….exactly is going to make the federal government give that up?
That’s the problem I have with these solutions. It’s separated from the reality on the ground.
Saw a survey where a quarter of pro Palestinian demonstrators were completely clueless as to which river, which sea, no idea on a proffered map where all this was supposed to happen.
So you’re running around chanting, waving banners, and never ask yourself, “What am I going on about?”.
I submit this is actually worse than the present issue.
thats why I call them zombies not woke, they are ignorant to an extraordinary degree, their responsed are a little less gutteral,
Did you say zombies?
https://youtu.be/wKhOtZ3F3_k?si=6EbDYNL6G8coFZYk
the walking dead tried to explain the motivation of these creatures, so did the resident evil series in their own way
to accept woke as a descriptor is to adopt their cognitive frame, much like with so called Antifa, and similar situated, BLM, Weathermen and Black Liberation Army, Chris Rufo has the receipts,