How The Left Took Over Academia…. and More
From Vik Rubenfeld at PJ Media, we get this excellent report about how the left successfully took over American academia as well as the media and by proxy, our very culture. (h/t Instapundit)
Recent studies have confirmed that American universities have become bigoted and biased against the expression of conservative views. One new study documents bias against the expression of conservative views among social and personality psychologists, including those at universities:
We find that respondents significantly underestimate the proportion of conservatives among their colleagues. … that conservatives fear negative consequences of revealing their political beliefs to their colleagues. Finally, we find that conservatives are right to do so. In decisions ranging from paper reviews to hiring, many social and personality psychologists admit that they would discriminate against openly conservative colleagues. The more liberal respondents are, the more willing they are to discriminate.
Also note this passage, from the 2009 book The Politically Correct University:
Substantial anecdotal and quantitative evidence indicates that there is a decided leftist bent to colleges and universities, particularly the most prestigious institutions … Moreover, as several of the following contributions discuss, this political imbalance likely stems from practices within the academy that discourage conservatives from pursuing academic careers. … We maintain that the relative absence of conservative, libertarian, and neoliberal thinkers and thought from the academy is in part caused by discriminatory academic personnel practices.
And read this passage from “A Crisis of Competence,” a 2012 report for the Regents of the University of California by the California Association of Scholars:
This report is concerned with the corruption of the University of California by activist politics. … The condition we investigate is now a well-documented pathology of the modern university. … According to a recent (2007) Zogby poll, a majority (58%) of the public now believes that the problem of faculty political bias is a very serious one.
These are the very institutions that were to promote freedom of speech. How were they taken control of in the first place, to the point where the documented intolerance could be permitted?
Read the whole thing at the link below.
Zombies: How the Left Captured Academia, the Media, and Other Organizations (PJ Media)
Comments
I spent a number of years in academia, and one line from Kors & Silverglate’s book “The Shadow University” perfectly describes what I saw: “Self-serving spinelessness, not ideology, is behind the crisis in our universities.”
It was my experience that there were some left-wing zealots, yes, but in absolute numbers they were few. The real problem was that the vast majority of the faculty were just self-serving and spineless. It was this endemic self-serving spinelessness that allowed the small number of zealots to exercise so much influence.
And speaking of “activist politics” at universities, I’m wondering how many of the CI readers have witnessed the presence of Organizing For America (formerly known as Obama For America)canvassing their campus and hawking voter registration services?
The state of Florida has enacted new rules as of Aug. 2012 governing the activities of 3rd Party Voter Registration (3PVR) agents. They must now be registered and approved by the state elections department and granted an ID#.
I’ve observed that OFA representatives seem to pop up whenever there is any major student centered event at one particular private Catholic (501(c).3) university in SoFla. They are always equipped with pamphlets (touting an Obama/DNC objective) and a clipboard for recording the names and contact information of anyone willing to permit further engagement. I’ve yet to hear these reps identify their relationship to the DNC.
Indeed, yesterday I spoke with one of these young, fresh faced reps and inquired about her credentials, specifically with regard to the new regulatory rules for 3PVRs. She starred directly and deeply into my eyes and acknowledged her relationship with OFA, asserted it was a “Non-partisan” group and that she had the approval of the county (not state)elections supervisor.
Given that voter fraud is a concern across the nation and the state of Florida has made no small contribution to this plague; and, given that fraudulent registration activities, particularly around college and university campuses has been viewed as a major contributing factor; and, given that the Obama campaign machine is notorious for its ability to “organize” and exploit contacts list for rallying support, I cannot help but view the presence of OFA described above with a somewhat jaundiced eye and wonder how ubiquitous these agents are on other campuses.