In the 1960s, activists on campuses often asked, “What if they gave a war and nobody came?”
Social justice warriors today may soon be asking the same question, as more and more young people shun higher education.
Trust in higher education is plummeting to record lows. According to Gallup, confidence in universities fell to 36% in 2023, down from 57% in 2015. Not surprisingly, given the growing viewpoint intolerance on our campuses, the largest drops are among Republicans and independents.
There has been a precipitous decline in enrollments across the country. From 2010 to 2021, enrollments fell from roughly 18.1 million students to about 15.4 million.
There are various contributors to the drop, from falling birthrates to poor economic times. However, there is also an increasing view of higher education as an academic echo chamber for far-left agendas. For many, there is little appeal in going to campuses where you are expected to self-censor and professors reject your values as part of their lesson plans.
That fear is magnified by surveys showing that many departments have purged their ranks of Republicans, conservatives and libertarians.
In my new book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discussed the intolerance in higher education and surveys showing that many departments no longer have a single Republican as faculties replicate their own views and values.
One survey (based on self-reporting) found that only 9% of law professors identified as conservative.
The focus at many schools has shifted to degrees in activism, while denouncing math, statistics, the classics, and even meritocracy as examples of white privilege.
There is an academic echo chamber that controls publications, speaking opportunities, and advancement with like-minded ideologues. As that circle intensifies, it becomes harder and harder for opposing voices to break through.
We have seen the same perverse incentive in the media, where outlets are seeing plummeting readers and revenue. Journalism schools and editors now maintain that reporters should reject objectivity and neutrality as touchstones of journalism.
It does not matter that this advocacy journalism is killing the profession. Reporters and editors continue to saw at the limb upon which they sit. For reporters, converting newsrooms into echo chambers gives them more security, advancement, and opportunities.
In the meantime, trust in the media is at record lows, paralleling the polling on higher education. The result is the rise of new media as people turn to blogs and other sources for their news.
The same phenomenon is occurring in academia. For those of us who believe in brick-and-mortar educational institutions, we may be watching a death spiral for some universities and colleges as administrators and faculty treat their students as a captive audience for their ideological agendas.
In the meantime, alternative educational opportunities are seeing a rapid rise. Take the Catherine Project, started four years ago, which offers free discussions of classic works that is also free from ideological indoctrination. The project has reportedly doubled in size since 2022.
We are killing our institutions through an abundance of ideology and a paucity of courage. Recently, interim Columbia University president Katrina Armstrong actually apologized to students who took over and trashed a building in anti-Israel protests.
During the protests, a Jewish Columbia professor was blocked by the school from going on campus because he might trigger antisemitic students. Yet Armstrong said sorry … to the occupying protesters, for her predecessor calling the police.
Like many conservatives and libertarians, Jewish students and families are now reportedly looking for alternatives to schools like Columbia.
What is clear is that many administrators and departments will continue to bar opposing views and maintain the academic echo chamber. Many have tenure and expect to ride out the decline of their institutions while enjoying the acclaim of being academic crusaders. Of course, it will become increasingly hard to be social warriors if you hold a war and nobody comes.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster).