Are Liberal Universities A Problem?
First of all, a disclaimer: I tend toward the liberal more often than the conservative. Having said that, I don’t generally read liberal commentators, but almost always read George F. Will, a highly-respected conservative editorialist.
I will read George F. Will for a couple of reasons. One, I like his logical flow. I don’t always agree with his premises nor conclusions, but I cannot generally find a flaw in between the two.
But more important to me, George is an independent thinker. He is unafraid of disagreeing with other conservatives, and he will criticize elected conservatives. This independence is sorely lacking in the world, although it is very much needed. I mistrust anyone who always agrees with their party, regardless of their political stance.
Having said that, I would like to disagree with one of Will’s current criticisms, that our colleges are dominated by liberal (or even radical) thinkers.
First, the Pentagon absorbs the largest share of the US Budget; if you consider that VA is part of our military budget, then the military budget is even a larger behemoth than we normally consider it. Not surprisingly, the military and the industrial lobbyists that support it have tremendous sway over our government. And this highly influential military-industrial complex is overwhelmingly conservative. But Will doesn’t object to that.
Similarly, large corporations dominate much of our private life, through advertising alone, not to mention countless indirect ways. Corporations have even acquired most of our news and entertainment media over the past few decades, and not surprisingly, media have continually migrated toward the right. This corporate media is an influential, educational force equal to, or much greater than, our liberal colleges. and liberals are rare birds in the corporate boardroom today. But these do not bother Will, either.
And then there are our temples of worship. Christian Americans lean heavily to the right, and certainly the teachings of the church are a force to match higher eduction. But George isn’t so concerned about that influence.
So we have to ask Mr. Will if his concern about an influential part of American becoming too partisan? Or is he just worried that it aligns with the other party?
Next, there is a matter of critical thinking, which is essential not only to democracy, but also to free will, which is essential to religious doctrine. If we only expose our young people to one aspect of human political thought, only indoctrinate them in the ideology of one party, then we cannot say that we have faithfully discharged our obligations to our country, nor to our religions.
That’s an important point. Before and after college, corporate advertising and corporate news will be the main sources of information for our citizens. So if our young people aren’t exposed to liberal ideas in college, when will they consider them? When else will they get an opportunity to truly reflect on different ideologies and decide– decide for THEMSELVES– what they believe?
Certainly Mr. Will is supportive of Providential free will, and the unfettered flow of ideas in a democracy.
This arrangement certainly seems to work well in the real world. Our students go through “liberal” colleges, but then elect representatives from either party, from both wings. Liberals may dominate the college, but they have not extended that dominance to our political life. The citizen thinks for herself; perhaps precisely because she has an understanding of diverse viewpoints.
As a final consideration, we need to ask what role our centers of higher learning play in our way of life. If conservatives “conserve”– defend traditional practices, values and ideologies; and if research institutions research, then the two must disagree. Universities are expected to question and prod what we believe, in an attempt to approach the essence of what is true, and valuable. Universities have always challenged conservative approaches; neither side is always right, but the debate leads to progress. Universities are liberal, because that is exactly what we expect them to be.
Which means that a good university will always be liberal.
So with all due respect to Mr. Will, I would hope that he stops criticizing our universities for being liberal. If they were not liberal, they– and we– would not be doing our jobs.