Opinion: I'm a university president who's sick of the campus echo chamber
William A. Jacobson said that colleges in America for the most part only tolerate left-wing political viewpoints.As historians, observers and keepers of truth, my peers in higher education and I are feeling a bit shell-shocked in the wake of recent national and international events that involve a political cookbook with lying as the main ingredient. This isn’t exclusively a Republican or Democrat issue – both parties feed us outright lies and misinformation.
Other college and university presidents tell me similar stories. They, too, worry about fallout from the assault on integrity, truth, and civility we are witnessing in our national discourse. We are sheltering through a storm of human creation that has the power to dramatically reshape our system of laws and governance, undermine decency, common sense and civilization and purposely amplify voices of hate, ignorance, malice, and greed.
What must colleges and universities do to mitigate these headwinds we’re facing? I firmly believe that it starts with overtly supporting facts, including science and research; providing society with; and the fortitude to resist. Education itself is under siege by those who would ignore or rewrite history, limit discourse, ban books, restrict human liberties, and violate social justice.
These attacks are being compounded by hypocritical religious justification, misguided nationalism and the pursuit of unbridled and irresponsible financial gain. As educators and leaders, we must fight fear with facts.a standard-bearer of history and truth, no matter how ugly or unpopular the reality is to some. We relish debate and discussion and focus on opening minds, ears, and eyes.
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