A Duke University professor is suspended, on his way to being fired, for politically incorrect remarks. Academic freedom? It no longer exists, Indeed, the cultural-Marxist drive is on to abolish free speech everywhere, with the same excuses. On campus, part of the problem is the change in university governance. Originally, as Henry Manne pointed out, religiously motivated boards ran religiously founded universities. But with the rise of secularism, boards lost the incentive to intervene on behalf of original principles. The vacuum was filled by faculties, who had the time and incentive, and tended to support academic freedom.
But now, with the vast increase in federal subsidies to higher-ed, came a vast increase in bureaucracy. Today, the mob of highly paid middle-management assistant deans and other officials run universities, and they are almost entirely in favor of speech suppression. Oh, and supporting them is the main cause of student debt. Time for new forms of higher-ed!
10:13 am on May 18, 2015
