It’s no secret that most professors on college campuses skew left, and conservative voices aren’t always welcome. But why is that? And what, if anything, can be done about it?
Dr. Robert George, the social conservative voice at Princeton University, and Dr. Cornel West, a democratic socialist and professor emeritus at Princeton, discussed this problem in a conversation at the American Enterprise Institute this week. The panel discussion was focused on living an “examined life,” which is the purpose of a liberal arts education.
George outlined three reasons he thinks conservative voices have been silenced in higher education.
First, “once the problem’s in place, you’ve got a relatively hostile environment. And young people realize it’s a hostile environment if they’re not in line with the prevailing orthodoxies. And so it becomes a deterrent for going down that path.”
Basically, conservatives who might pursue an academic career perceive that they will be entering into a lifelong hostile environment, so they become less inclined to pursue it.
Dr. Robert George, the social conservative voice at Princeton University, and Dr. Cornel West, a democratic socialist and professor emeritus at Princeton, discussed this problem in a conversation at the American Enterprise Institute this week. The panel discussion was focused on living an “examined life,” which is the purpose of a liberal arts education.
George outlined three reasons he thinks conservative voices have been silenced in higher education.
First, “once the problem’s in place, you’ve got a relatively hostile environment. And young people realize it’s a hostile environment if they’re not in line with the prevailing orthodoxies. And so it becomes a deterrent for going down that path.”
Basically, conservatives who might pursue an academic career perceive that they will be entering into a lifelong hostile environment, so they become less inclined to pursue it.
Comments