I am slightly preoccupied this morning and in a fog thanks to a
fire alarm first announcing the weakness of its battery in the middle of the
night. (But I am being
redundant. Fire alarms always
first announce the weakness of their batteries in the middle of the night.)
But I cannot let pass an open letter from Charles Murray to the students of Azusa Pacific University, particularly since it is a good companion
to yesterday’s post. It happens
that he was long scheduled to speak there. But the oh-so tolerant and sensitive “Shut Up” cabal let
their disapproval be known, and his appearance was “postponed.”
Murray uses the occasion well to confront the increasing vapidity of U.
S. higher education and its “Shut Up” culture. He begins:
I was
scheduled to speak to you tomorrow. I was going to talk about my new book, “The
Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead,” and was looking forward to it. But it
has been “postponed.” Why? An email from your president, Jon Wallace, to my
employer, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), said “Given the lateness of
the semester and the full record of Dr. Murray’s scholarship, I realized we
needed more time to prepare for a visit and postponed Wednesday’s
conversation.” This, about an appearance that has been planned for months. I
also understand from another faculty member that he and the provost were afraid
of “hurting our faculty and students of color.”
You’re at
college, right? Being at college is supposed to mean thinking for yourselves,
right? Okay, then do it.
Indeed, U. S. universities are becoming institutes of indoctrination
rather that places where actual thought and listening to competing views is
encouraged. But, as I said, I am
too much in a fog to say much more, so do go read Murray’s excellent letter for
yourself.
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