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Harvard may win its legal battle against the Trump administration, but the fight to restore confidence in higher education as defenders of the “free exchange of ideas” would still be far from over, The Washington Post editorial board wrote on Tuesday.
“In the past decade, trust in higher education has dropped precipitously. Ten years ago, a robust majority of Americans told Gallup they had a ‘great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in higher education; today, only one-third of Americans say the same,” the editorial stated, highlighting similar concerns over an uptick in those who say they have “very little” or “no” confidence in higher education.
That percentage rose to 32% from 10% a decade ago.
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Such discontent with higher education has created opportunities for Republicans to seize on the trend and “attack the foundations of academic independence,” the board argued.
A cocktail of problems, ranging from free speech concerns to rising costs and lower returns on investment, was said to have fed into the growing distrust.
In one corner, conservative faculty members have reported self-censoring due to fear of how others might respond to their opinions. The Post argued this isn’t isolated to one group, however, and that left-wing voices are also choosing to stay quiet when controversial topics are discussed.
“In an academic community in which ‘diversity statements’ are required of new hires (and professors can be denied jobs merely for criticizing them), university administrations and disciplines issue official statements embracing social justice causes, journal editors apologize for or withdraw papers that offend the left, and conservative professors are becoming an increasingly endangered species, even moderates or those on the center-left can reasonably wonder what they’re allowed to say, and universities can seem drastically out of step with mainstream society,” the editorial said.
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The editorial board went on to say that institutions of higher education lack a solid foundation to demand that the government respect their “academic freedom” unless they demand the same from their own teachers and leaders.
“The worst of this political fever might be behind us, but academia will have to take strenuous action to restore its reputation as defenders of the free exchange of ideas…”
“Renaming the diversity, equity and inclusion office will not suffice; they need to foster a campus environment in which the frank discussion of ideas is the core value. If they do not, they will find the public yawning as conservative attacks intensify and courts struggle to contain the damage,” the Post’s editorial board continued.
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