Why university presidents are under fire
Fareed Zakaria on the current crisis facing America's elite universities
America’s top universities should abandon their long misadventure into politics, retrain their gaze on their core strengths and rebuild their reputations as centers of research and learning.
Last week, the spotlight was on three university presidents whose ambiguous responses to campus conduct issues are symptomatic of a broader, more concerning shift. These once-celebrated institutions of higher learning are now increasingly perceived as platforms for political agendas.
Public trust in the value of a college education is eroding as skepticism about the trajectory of higher education in the U.S. grows. Central to this discourse is the contentious debate surrounding diversity and inclusion initiatives. Originally intended to promote equality, these programs overshadow the fundamental pursuit of academic merit. The recent Supreme Court case on affirmative action and the evolving admissions policies are raising critical questions about the balance between diversity and academic excellence.
The emergence of concepts like safe spaces, microaggressions, and the universities' response to social movements further polarize opinions. This ideological shift has significant implications, particularly for marginalized groups like Jews and Asians, who feel excluded from the current academic narrative.
At the core of this dilemma is the erosion of a university's fundamental mission: the free expression of ideas. This opinion piece calls for a critical reassessment, urging universities to realign with their primary roles as centers of research and learning and move away from the entanglements of political controversy.
What are your thoughts on this?
Clayton Craddock is a devoted father of two, an accomplished musician, and a thought-provoker dedicated to Socratic questioning, challenging the status quo, and encouraging a deeper contemplation on a range of issues. Subscribe to Think Things Through HERE, and for inquiries and to connect, email him here: Clayton@claytoncraddock.com.
"At the core of this dilemma is the erosion of a university's fundamental mission: the free expression of ideas."
Maybe this is why I never attended one: I was always under the apparently mistaken impression that a university education was a straightforward executing of a contract, between consenting parties: the student pays, in the form of tuition, fees and the meeting of living expenses, for the privilege of focusing one's efforts on the tangible objectives of completing coursework and passing exams, in exchange for a credential, which affords them the future prospect of making such knowledge serve them as they choose later in life.
What any of this has to do with this 'free expression of ideas' absolutely escapes me.
The phrase strikes me more as descriptive of what people in those flawed, corrupt and utterly lost institutions do all day already, instead of concentrating on what either students or faculty are there to achieve: a contractual exchange which is far from being 'free' for anyone involved, and within which 'ideas' are actually a kind of self-congratulating luxury, what with all the actual work they're all supposed to be doing.