It’s no secret that, in recent years, the value proposition of higher education has come into question. As tuition prices continue to soar — and college degrees confer less of an advantage in the job market than they once did — it’s no surprise that suspicions have grown that we’re in the midst of a “college bubble,” with prices far outpacing the underlying value.
The importance of the college experience, however, has always gone far beyond economic considerations. The point of a liberal education, after all, is about more than just enhancing one’s value in the marketplace. It’s also supposed to broaden intellectual horizons, exposing students to a wide variety of viewpoints and preparing them for citizenship in a free society. These days, that proposition has become just as dubious as the financial one.
In recent weeks, we’ve witnessed a troubling array of major figures prevented from speaking at colleges because of protests from students or faculty. The most pronounced example of this trend came at New Jersey’s Rutgers University, where the former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was recently forced to pull out of delivering the school’s commencement address after students occupied the office of the university’s president to protest her appearance.
Secretary Rice is not alone, however. Brandeis University in Massachusetts recently reversed its decision to confer an honorary degree on the Somali-born women’s-rights activists Ayaan Hirsi Ali over statements she made critical of Islam. Similarly, California’s own Azusa Pacific University recently rescinded an invitation to the distinguished social scientist Charles Murray, citing (erroneous) student claims that his work is racist.
We don’t dispute the universities’ prerogatives to be selective in choosing speakers. And we’re conscious of the fact that awarding an honorary degree is an even more sensitive consideration given that the recipient will bear the imprimatur of the university. What troubles us, however, is the inconsistency of the standards applied.
It’s a matter of common knowledge that university campuses are traditionally friendly environs for even the most radical figures of the progressive Left. That’s not necessarily objectionable. A full survey of the intellectual landscape should include marginal voices.
What’s unsettling is that even mainstream figures who depart from that liberal orthodoxy are often treated as pariahs on college campuses. The result is a stifling intellectual conformity that leaves students disconnected from one half of American political life.
The life of the mind is sharpened by worthy adversaries. The students and faculty members who take issue with the likes of Secretary Rice, Ms. Ali, or Mr. Murray would be better served by engaging with their arguments rather than silencing them. That kind of debate is what real education is all about.
— Copley News Service
