Ken Berwitz
There is no evidence that the University of Missouri deniesequal opportunity to its black students; those black students, like every otherstudent on campus, are surrounded by lavish educational resources, available tothem for the asking on a color-blind basis. The university\’s faculty andadministrators are surely among the most prejudice-free, well-meaning group ofadults in human history. Thousands of Chinese students would undoubtedly doanything for the chance to be “systemically oppressed” by the University ofMissouri\’s stupendous laboratories and research funding.
But Missouri\’s political class has embraced the patentdelusion that the university is rife with racism. Governor Jay Nixon called on college officials to “ensure theUniversity of Missouri is a place where all students can pursue their dreams inan environment of respect, tolerance and inclusion.” In truth, the only barrierto such pursuit is a student\’s own lack of academic preparedness, should hehave been admitted under a racial preference. Mayor Bob McDavid of Columbia,Missouri-where the university is located-told CNN after Wolfe\’s resignationthat he congratulated the “students on achieving their goal.” McDavid insistedthat we need to “deal with the pain of minorities” and that we will be “done” only “when every student has the freedom to fulfill his dream unimpeded byracial epithets.”
The precedent set here is monumental. Any student protesterwho can convince his college\’s football or basketball team to threaten a strikewill be able to bring administrators to their knees even more quickly thanusual. Administrative cupidity and alumni fanaticism have turned the collegiatesports-industrial complex into the most powerful force on campus. If thatbehemoth can be reliably persuaded to support the latest racial agitation-andthere will often be a critical mass of black athletes to appeal to-then analready supine leadership class will discard the reality principle once and forall.
