WHO OWNS THE UNIVERSITIES?

Those of us for whom college days are vivid though distant memories are in deep dudgeon because of the erosion of the ideals which were impressed upon us in our youth. Not only were we taught a variety of subjects, but we assimilated values that included, courtesy and respect for our professors, for each other and for frequent visitors and invited speakers who were accorded a special dignity as guests to whom we owed dignified treatment. The practice became second nature to us and permeated the atmosphere of the campus.

Do we know whether the heirs of leadership at our respective educational institutions are faithfully and courageously adhering to the vaunted traditions that sustained us then and since, in our search for truth. Have they or any of them responded to the vulgar and abhorrent conduct which stains polite discourse and obliterates the esteem due the freedom of speech. Have any offered a dissenting word or any comment whatsoever in decrying these and other multiple abuses of civil exchanges on campuses across the land. Has anyone in a position of authority or a spokesperson under the auspices of their college or University addressed this egregious misconduct not only on this occasion, at Stamford, but at Central Florida University, where the Diversity Inclusion Equity folks have for years persecuted tenured professor, Charles Negy, for tweeting “black privilege is real,” condemning him and insisting upon his firing for commonsense ideas which went against the grain of their presumptuous orthodoxy. 

In fact, he was fired, appealed, and won on first amendment grounds.(it took years) Now he has filed suit against his antagonists. Everywhere higher education is pursued there are Departments of DIE. Has anyone in leadership at these Departments anywhere published or spoken against these glaring travesties, or the plethora of others that reflect the sorry state of education at American Universities. Has anyone with the gravitas to do so denounced the rampant violations of free speech or remarked that censorship is anathema to the purpose of educational advancement and violative of our constitutional rights.

Has any Department of DIE distinguished itself as an advocate of merit -based advancements and against victimhood? Has any taken a proactive role in defining its purpose and distinguishing its words and deeds from the aberrant behavior of their peers in academia.

It would be disheartening to learn they are these Departments are constituted of nothing more than members of the chorus adding compliant voices to virtue signaling while ignoring the mental and psychological disfigurement imposed upon vulnerable students, many of whom can be designated as members of a captive audience subject to group think. I don’t know how we will combat the nefarious and calculated intrusions into our institutions where young minds are not inspired but coerced, outright and subtly. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for educators, scholars, and administrators to do nothing.”

Are graduates regularly apprised of the details their Departments doings; its alleged successes, its failures, if any. I know all there is to know about my schools athletic program, including the new coaches, both men and women, but precious little about DEI. Certainly, nothing granular.

Where is it best to go to obtain answers to these inquiries? I think I speak for a huge proportion of flummoxed alumnae when I say I am in the dark on this subject where transparency is required. How else will we know if our educational establishments are the haven for satisfying intellectual curiosity as they were for us. Perhaps, given the dire circumstances in the upper echelons of education, the suppression of speech which is rife, and the muteness of leaders who ought to be our exemplars, we are merely “voices crying in the wilderness.”

Much has been given to us who have had the benefit of formal education at Colleges and Universities, now much is required of us. We should assume that the future of education depends on us, and we should vote with our pocketbooks by refusing financial aid or any support to the schools we attended that debases the educative process. We should write to those in positions of leadership to complain of their abdication of leadership and we should pursue the goal of reform relentlessly. Let is begin with one person at a time until we become a multitude whose voices will be heard and cannot be denied. 

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#universities #faculty #voices #collegesanduniversities