Yep there's a baffling disconnect between widespread reporting on college "intolerance" and the reality. "Coddling of the American Mind" has a lot of mindshare but cites stupendously low numbers of "attempted disinvitations" as evidence of widespread left wing intolerance among students while moving the discussion right past actual nazi groups flyering Evergreen College and sending death threats to students.
My alma mater is the University of Virginia. A wealthy conservative was so incensed by a sign saying "Fuck UVA" on a lawn dorm room that he went to campus to physically tear it down. This man was later appointed to the university Board of Visitors by the governor.
My wife is a professor at a different university. There are groups of trained reactionary students who very carefully harass some of her colleagues and friends for being trans, for teaching african american history, and for teaching climate science in ways that ride right up against the edge of legal protection. 18 year olds don't know how to do this without help.
If universities are commie monocultures, then why would these things be happening? And surely if universities were commie monocultures, we'd see the boogeyman departments like history and gender studies getting all the funding they want when what I actually see is these departments being completely unable to hire and all of the growth going to computer science programs.
I think perhaps the grandparent commentator MUST be referencing the right-wing founding of alternative universities due to their anger that their worldview doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Surely they aren't supporting the notion that universities are commie monocultures.
I don't think that's true. The quote says "Republicans registered concern about politics in higher education" and then the post says "I think both parties are right" and then describes "a campaign of political and social indoctrination, and censorship of contrarian views" in parallel construction to the left concern that the "cost of a university education has skyrocketed."
This very clearly talking about conservatives being concerned about left wing political indoctrination on campus. I think that this is blown wildly out of proportion.
My alma mater is the University of Virginia. A wealthy conservative was so incensed by a sign saying "Fuck UVA" on a lawn dorm room that he went to campus to physically tear it down. This man was later appointed to the university Board of Visitors by the governor.
My wife is a professor at a different university. There are groups of trained reactionary students who very carefully harass some of her colleagues and friends for being trans, for teaching african american history, and for teaching climate science in ways that ride right up against the edge of legal protection. 18 year olds don't know how to do this without help.
If universities are commie monocultures, then why would these things be happening? And surely if universities were commie monocultures, we'd see the boogeyman departments like history and gender studies getting all the funding they want when what I actually see is these departments being completely unable to hire and all of the growth going to computer science programs.