Higher education is in an “existential crisis” due to “activist professors” abusing power, Case Western Reserve University English Professor Michael Clune states in a recent op-ed.
Writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Clune states that beginning around 2014, “Professors began to see the traditional values and methods of their fields — such as the careful weighing of evidence and the commitment to shared standards of reasoned argument — as complicit in histories of oppression.”
“As a result, many professors and fields began to reframe their work as a kind of political activism,” and “nearly every scholar now justifies their work in political terms,” Clune states.
He states that professors abuse their power by making political judgments in the classroom, writing:
“[W]hile academics have real expertise in their disciplines, we have no special expertise when it comes to political judgment. I am an English professor. I know about the history of literature, the practice of close reading, and the dynamics of literary judgment. No one should treat my opinion on any political matter as more authoritative than that of any other person. The spectacle of English professors pontificating to their captive classroom audiences on the evils of capitalism, the correct way to deal with climate change, or the fascist tendencies of their political opponents is simply an abuse of power.”
Further, students exchange their tuition for “the faculty’s high-class political opinions as a form of cultural capital.” As a result, the public sees progressive views such as advocating to defund the police or treating biological sex as a social construct as symbols in a status competition, Clune states.
He also condemns universities’ hiring practices, citing an example from his time chairing a search committee.
During a meeting, he raised concerns about the legality of discussing candidates’ race, only to be reprimanded by the diversity dean. When he sought clarification on the university’s practices regarding race, he received no reply.
“When I did meet with the dean, my questions were repeatedly turned aside by references to our ‘shared values.’ But what are these values?” the professor states.
“These so-called values seem to revolve around a shared commitment to partisan politics, encompassing everything from professors prioritizing climate activism to student leaders labeling ‘illegal immigration’ as a microaggression, and search committees favoring candidates based on race,” Clune states.
He states that universities should “articulate a different set of shared values” and demonstrate “expertise and commitment to high standards of evidence and argument.”
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