(from The American Conservative):
By Thomas Barlow
Americans used to be proud of their universities. The reasons were simple. Universities taught students how to think, and showed them how to communicate complex ideas. They gave many young people an expertise, a vocation, and a useful purpose in life. They nurtured an understanding of the finest aspects of human cultural flourishing. In their pursuit of athletic excellence, they promoted pride across local communities. And on top of all this, through research and discovery, they added unceasingly to our understanding of the world and our place within it.
Today, however, radicalized faculties and belligerent students are debasing the old model, causing some Americans to have second thoughts. As we start a new academic year, for example, the University of Missouri, a locus of racial protest in 2015, is experiencing a sustained decline in enrollments. It turns out that a banner year for political fundamentalism on any campus, even amongst a minority of students, is a marketing fiasco for an institution whose core business is supposed to be the discovery and dissemination of truth.
But what’s happening in American higher education is much worse for American universities—and much worse for America as well—than a mere PR disaster. CONTINUE READING HERE