From the transcript of a recent "Vortex" segment on Church Militant TV:
The revolution in education has been fought and won by secularist humanists, and they completely dominate the academy now with no end in sight. And while this is true across all the disciplines, it is most pronounced in the very disciplines that give them the greatest access to the minds of the youth — the humanities, social sciences and history. One recent study revealed that the ratio of tenured crackpots to conservatives on college campuses in these particular fields was approaching 30:1.
What an interesting survey! Was it self-reported, I wonder? Perhaps the questionnaire was something like this:
Are you:
A) A conservative
B) A tenured crackpot?
I'm not saying they're wrong, by the way. I suppose my sentimental side would like to think there's a little bit of middle ground-- those who are tenured and only mildly delusional, for instance.
I do believe the survey is more accurate than not. If one is at a major university, be it a highly ranked private or or a flagship public, I would not be surprised if the politics lean left. I was fortunate enough to attend a relatively small, public university where my department, for the most part, was apolitical. A ranked higher education institution like Swarthmore or Yale tend to run left - and hard.
ReplyDeleteIf one wants a more conservative outlook there are specific schools (Ave Maria University, Wyoming Catholic, Liberty, Bob Jones). The thing with this is that when such schools are mentioned people who talk about them tend to put a caveat on them, signifying potential close-mindedness and lack of (ethnic) diversity. These schools are seen as the strange ones.
If you want to learn more about what professors and administration do at American universities there are a couple of sites that document the chaos (see below).
thecollegefix.com
mindinghthecampus.com
The latest book about a lack of ideological diversity in academia expands on the Voris' concern. https://www.amazon.com/Passing-Right-Conservative-Professors-Progressive/dp/0199863059
Finding a professor who's a centrist (in an America understanding of the word) is rare given the absolute slant towards leftist politics at major/elite universities (save for University of Chicago).
Good points, and I do agree-- I just think the stark terms in which Voris presented it are very funny. "Tenured crackpot" is not a very scientific term!
Delete