By José A. Cabranes Nov. 8, 2019 5:25 pm ET American higher education seems to be in a permanent state of crisis. Almost monthly, a federal court has occasion to reprimand some college or university for improperly chilling speech, even as some students continue to complain that campuses are too friendly to the wrong kind of speakers. Many institutions have cut back on faculty hiring, even as the cost of tuition grows.
How did the university lose its way? How did this new alliance of activists and administrators supplant the faculty? Maintaining that distinction between inquiry and action has always been crucial to academic freedom. It is difficult, after all, to obtain the truth while you are being bludgeoned into submission.
The contemporary admissions process thus reflects and advances a transformation of the university from a place of thought to an instrument of social action. Is it any wonder that students go searching for windmills at which to tilt? But the faculty needs help. Trustees and alumni have a role to play. Trustees can start by recalling their considerable legal authority. They should demand detailed justifications for each and every deputy deanship and assistant directorship that swells the bureaucratic ranks. Trimming nonfaculty staff positions would require effort, but it wouldn’t be impossible—unlike faculty, these positions lack the protections of tenure.
Above all, concerned trustees and alumni should not shy away from using all available levers, including financial and political pressure, to reassert the university’s true mission.
opinion Easy answer how.... COMMUNISM.
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opinion Really? As a young 1970s/80s New Haven lawyer, when Judge Cabranes was Yale’s counsel, Yale then had many issues. His is a tiresome screed. If some want to run w it, useful thoughts might be rise of STEM, shrinking liberal arts & if any correlation between that & his complaints.
opinion 20 elite universities received 28% of college donations last year — they educate 1.6% of undergraduates
opinion Maybe a bit more focus on drivers of skyrocketing costs & less reliance on increased State funding would be a good start. Inflation at historic lows, imagine if ever returns to 10%+. So put thinking cap on & look at cost drivers. Pretty obvious where the search ought start.
opinion You cannot have diversity with skin color alone.. True diversity also includes thought.
opinion It didn't, the world around them has. New job skills, technology,etc. And education, in many ways has been streamlined and methods of teaching/learning have evolved. What will the next decade bring? Closure of many univ.'s.
opinion First world countries has much less freedom of speech now than 3rd world countries thnx to social justice
opinion useless majors? gender studies?
opinion Garbage liberal arts academia is an illegal 'State sponsored' church system for liberal hate cults. The same people who want tuition relief for their fake degrees.
opinion If nothing else, the very fact of this - of the utter, intransigent refusal of faculty to behave even in the least like an adult and accept some responsibility - helps substantiate the nature of the problem.
opinion I appreciate both the sentiment and the wonderful craftsmanship of this article.
opinion This is a very tired line. The only crisis on campuses is the skyrocketing cost and lack of state funding to make it accessible for regular people. This hysteria about ‘censorship on campus’ is imagined by people who themselves support candidates who seek to suppress the vote
opinion Saying 'social justice' implies that we all agree with them, but for some reason aren't interested in justice. It would be far more accurate to say 'extremist ideologies'. And to answer your question: the humanities & social-science faculty are the ones to blame for this.
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