In clicking on this essay, you have likely already begun the process of answering this question in your mind. Universities have problems – and you know what they are, don’t you? Somehow, we all know what they are! But alas, if only we truly knew what they were – and could all agree on them at that – then, those theoretical problems would cease to exist! There is a great quote which goes: one of the great challenges in life is knowing enough about a subject to think you are right, but not enough to know you are wrong.” While in theory that is meant to apply to science – we might as well apply it to everything else as well. In terms of the issues which plague our top universities’, the humility to know none of us know the exact solution is perhaps a necessary part of the puzzle.
Rather than approaching this question in immense detail insofar as it relates to specific University malpractice – attacking the systemic issues within our universities from a more macro perspective can be far more revealing. In a place where diverging opinions, rigorous debate and diverse political viewpoints are said to be encouraged, American universities promote quite the opposite. Recent polling indicates that within America’s top universities, democrat professors outnumber republicans 9 to 1, female democrat students outnumber female republican students 24 to 1, and male democrat students outnumber male republican students 9 to 1. In a country where democrats and republicans reside at just about an even, 1 to 1 ratio – why is it that the places we claim to be preparing us for the way of the world do just the opposite? For liberals, America’s top universities are an echoing chamber of woke fairy dust and progressive roses. What else is there to be expected when almost 90% of professors – the ones steering you along the path of “right” and “wrong” – are liberal? Of course conservative viewpoints are ALWAYS wrong!
For republicans, America’s top universities have become somewhat of a case study. How and why have our elite institutions become so politically aligned? Much like big tech, its social media companies, big pharma and the like – these institutions who were once decoupled political ideology have all converged upon the same side of non-representative far-left liberalism. In universities, the demographic could not be further than that of the real world. At USC we live in a bubble – and while liberal leaning students and professors may enjoy it when here – in reality, they will be the ones who pay the biggest price once gone. Not learning to understand, respect, and vigorously debate viewpoints you may vehemently disagree with is part of life – and a highly necessary tool in navigating the world. Being placed in an environment where viewpoints you find abhorrent do not exist – in reality – do just the opposite of preparing a student for life.
So, what does this tell us about our top universities – and is this a problem? Yes, it is a massive problem. What it tells us is that America’s top universities do not truly value what America is as a whole – only the fringe minority of the left. The proclaimed goal of forming a broad spectrum of viewpoints and encouraging diverse political viewpoints is nothing but a farce. Claims of teaching how to think – not what to think, are similarly a farce. Universities in America have become – simply put – an echo chamber of liberal political discourse, and in doing so have lost sight of the rest of America.
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