Our Woke Universities Bode Poorly for The Future of Our Nation: Time to Stop Them NOW!
On December 27, 2021, I published on Authentic Medicine, A Holiday Wish: The Return of Higher Education as an Asset to Our Society(Ref.1). There were three main points of the article. 1) Presidents and board of directors/regents have acquiesced as their faculties morphed into radical wokeness affecting the thinking of future generations. 2) By not demanding that ALL applicants regardless of socioeconomic background are equally prepared for university/college work, it has enabled grossly unequal K-12 education that leaves millions of children ill-prepared. 3) A colossal rise in costs, due in part to a federal tsunami of money has priced many middleclass children into serious debt.
The next day, December 28th a well-informed colleague wrote back saying that it’s probably too late for voluntary change and that present progressive faculties will only allow ultra-liberals to be appointed. Then on January 14, 2022, John Ellis published, Can Politics Get Better When Higher Education Keeps Getting Worse? in the Wall Street Journal. How did defunding the police, critical race theory and leftist radicalism, that a few years ago seemed fringe become mainstream in a wing of the Democratic Party and today become narrowly defeated in Minneapolis and Virginia? Mr. Ellis’s answer is that the ascendency of a radicalized university/college faculty is creating a generation of like-minded graduates and if not stopped, in another generation their thinking will dominate American politics (Ref.2). In an article, Perspective: Welcome to ‘woke’ university, well documented episodes of ‘wokeness’ are described beginning at Yale university in 2015. Other examples are described, i.e., at Middlebury College in 2017, at Evergreen College also in 2017, misuse of title IX, along with the idea of emotional stress caused by exposure to different ideas (Ref.3). Additionally, Niall Ferguson, a cofounder of Austin University, describes the history of our major universities and their recent descent into ‘wokeism’. Not only does he describe the ascent of radical faculties, but he also finds fault in a growing administrative structure and with leadership (Ref.4).
In an example of public pushback, the Virginia Governor/Lt. Governor ‘anti-woke’ campaigns were successful. Mr. Youngkin the new governor recently issued an executive order for the diversity office to focus on economic opportunity for ALL children, cooperation among religious groups, promoting free speech and civil discourse on campus ensuring that history curriculum is honest, objective and complete to counter critical-race theory (Ref.5). Lt. Governor Winsome Sears, a black woman, is a champion for better education for ALL children which includes the option of school choice (Ref.6). Recently the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Students for Fair Admissions case against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, alleging that race-conscious admission policies are discriminatory against Asian-American students. They document that at Harvard a black applicant who is in the 4th-lowest decile (out of 10 categories) has a higher chance of admission, 12.8%, than an Asian student in the top decile. The article reminds us of Chief Justice Robert’s comment about a 2007 case, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discrimination on the basis of race” (Ref.7).
I hope the Supreme Court finally finds that students seeking higher education should be evaluated on their own merits and NOT what they look like. However, that does require that our society assures that every child regardless of socio-economic background receives an education that prepares them to succeed in a modern industrialized society. Certainly, that is NOT the present situation and will require a re-thinking of public education.
However, such an admirable court finding will not change the present university/college faculty and administration bias towards woke thinking, as well as exorbitant costs. Perhaps alumni should withhold their university/college contributions until these institutions return to the pursuit of truth and critical thinking. If you agree, please share this essay with collogues in a collective attempt to effect change.
- Ken Fisher, M.D., A Holiday Wish: The Return of Higher Education as an Asset to Our Society, Authentic Medicine, December 27, 2021, available at: https://authenticmedicine.com/2021/12/a-holiday-wish-the-return-of-higher-education-as-an-asset-to-our-society/ (accessed December 27, 2021)
- John Ellis, Can Politics Get Better When Higher Education Keeps Getting Worse? Voters have the sense to resist notions like critical race theory. A generation from now, they may not., Wall Street Journal, January 14, 2022, available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-politics-get-better-higher-ed-college-university-education-crt-defund-police-radical-progressives-11642174342 (accessed January 15, 2022)
- Robby Soave, Perspective: Welcome to ‘woke’ university: is illiberal campus activism redefining American values? DeseretNews, August 30, 2021, available at: https://www.deseret.com/2021/8/30/22643455/welcome-to-woke-university-cancel-culture-campus-speakers-shouted-down-political-protest-college (accessed January 18, 2022)
- Niall Ferguson, I’m Helping to Start a New College Because higher Ed is Broken, Bloomberg, November 8, 2021, available at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/gadfly/niall-ferguson-america-s-woke-universities-need-to-be-replaced (accessed January 18, 2022)
- Editorial Board, Youngkin Nikes ‘Equity’ for ‘Opportunity’, Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2022, available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/governor-youngkin-trades-equity-for-opportunity-diversity-inclusion-critical-race-theory-angela-sailor-education-racial-equality-achievement-gap-11642964540 (accessed January 25, 2022)
- Tunku Varaclarajan, For Winsome Sears, Education Is the Key to Black Success, Wall Street Journal, January 25, 2022, available at; https://www.wsj.com/articles/winsome-sears-education-key-black-success-virginia-governor-charter-school-choice-crt-critical-race-theory-11641574129 (accessed January 26, 2022)
- The Editorial Board, Race, Harvard and the Supreme Court: The Justices will get a chance to vindicate the 14th Amendment, The Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2022, available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/race-harvard-and-the-supreme-court-students-for-fair-admissions-colleges-quotas-11643063228 (accessed January 25, 2022)
Anyone remember the “Bakke decision”? Google it. I remember being at the University of Illinois Med school freshman year in 1978 to 1979. The African-American student group had a tutoring session with an African-American anatomy professor or teacher. The lab was locked so no one else could get in. It left a bad taste in the mouths of us “white kids” as we couldn’t get in for independent study and has stuck with me to this day. What they should have done was post that the African-American student group was sponsoring an anatomy tutoring session. “All are welcomed.” That would have had far more benefit for race relations than anything. Those of us “white kids” who got up at that ungodly hour would have had the benefit of acquiring more anatomic knowledge and mixing socially with our African-American classmates.
Nowadays, I suspect students mix with each other seamlessly but back then we still congregated amongst our different racial groups. We all got along mind you and there was no duress along racial lines. I think it would have been better if we were all a big happy family trying to achieve the same goals ie. a medical degree.
Kurt
Search out works by JOHN TAYLOR GATTO, e.g. “Weapons of Mass Instruction” history of American educational system and its motives. Bill Deresiewicz, “Excellent Sheep” education as teaching comity and acquiescence.