A lot has been written about the downward spiral of colleges and universities in the United States – including by me.
But few hit this topic as well as Jeffrey M. McCall’s opinion piece at thehill.com (via msn.com).
Here is how it begins…
There was a time when colleges and universities had enough sense to stay in their lanes and focus on their historic mission to teach, learn and do research.
That objective has been derailed over the years, with higher education institutions now smugly assuming they should indoctrinate the nation on a laundry list of sociopolitical hobby horses. That misguided and self-righteous repositioning has turned out to be a blunder of great proportion.
Colleges and universities are now reduced to morally confused and pompous agencies of activism. These high-priced entities have become generally detached from the rational and practical aspects of the society these schools were established to serve. The offshoot is that colleges have effectively pulled the plug on free expression and inquiry. Free speech necessarily suffers in any culture in which the powerful have clearly established “correct” positions.
…and here is a key passage further along:
Whether it’s immigration, abortion, globalism, climate, gun rights, gender or diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), college administrators have been eager to express their approved opinions. Curricula reflect the campus mob mentality, as course titles and syllabi clearly show. Hiring practices make sure all employees, from professors to dorm coordinators to groundskeepers, salute the prevailing mindsets. “Diversity offices” keep an eye out for wayward thinkers, making sure everybody stays of one mind.
Check out the list of invited speakers to any campus and odds are there will be no presenters with views contrary to the accepted campus dogma. And if an unapproved speaker does show up, be ready for shout-downs and disruption.
Want more? I hope so, because there’s plenty of it that is just as spot-on accurate and just as compelling. I urge you to use the link I’ve provided (here it is again) and read every word.
Then join me in lamenting how far down the sewer so many of our supposed “institutions of higher learning” have gone.
