I’ve been a professor at a big 10 university in the Midwest for over 20 years now. I can honestly say that the university has changed so much since I first started that it’s almost unrecognizable.
One major way it’s changed is that the university did not have a collective politics when I first began my career. I knew that most faculty wer…
I’ve been a professor at a big 10 university in the Midwest for over 20 years now. I can honestly say that the university has changed so much since I first started that it’s almost unrecognizable.
One major way it’s changed is that the university did not have a collective politics when I first began my career. I knew that most faculty were on the left (as was I at that time), but it wasn’t explicitly baked into the institution like it is now. And the politics are no longer to the left of center—it’s to the far left. There are few conservative faculty on campus and those that are there are mostly closeted, like myself (frankly, I’m not particularly proud of this).
Another way it has changed is the quality of the students. To see how uneducated students are coming out of high school is astonishing. These students don’t know basic things, have poor critical thinking skills, don’t study, and do not read. And grade inflation is so rampant that grades have become meaningless. The grade inflation is especially bad among junior faculty, who often give A’s to entire classes.
The universities are, indeed, rotting from within. At this point, the only way it can be saved is by administrators who are willing to stand against the progressive faculty and parents refusing to send their children to these ideologically captured institutions. Sadly, I don’t see either one of these things happening anytime soon.
To say that I can hardly wait to retire is an understatement. On the positive side, I’m at least grateful to be in the Midwest. I imagine that the situation is much worse for heterodox faculty at universities on the west and east coast.
Enlightening comment. The kids are coming into university uneducated since our public schools are largely deficient, underfunded - and leave university equally so because of grade inflation and rampant progressive bias (and I say this as a liberal). So in the end, after having spent a hundred and fifty to two hundred grand on an education at an elite institution, a graduating student has a diploma not worth the paper it's printed on. And has the lack of verbal, writing and critical thinking skills to prove it. This is our next leadership generation.
I’ve been a professor at a big 10 university in the Midwest for over 20 years now. I can honestly say that the university has changed so much since I first started that it’s almost unrecognizable.
One major way it’s changed is that the university did not have a collective politics when I first began my career. I knew that most faculty were on the left (as was I at that time), but it wasn’t explicitly baked into the institution like it is now. And the politics are no longer to the left of center—it’s to the far left. There are few conservative faculty on campus and those that are there are mostly closeted, like myself (frankly, I’m not particularly proud of this).
Another way it has changed is the quality of the students. To see how uneducated students are coming out of high school is astonishing. These students don’t know basic things, have poor critical thinking skills, don’t study, and do not read. And grade inflation is so rampant that grades have become meaningless. The grade inflation is especially bad among junior faculty, who often give A’s to entire classes.
The universities are, indeed, rotting from within. At this point, the only way it can be saved is by administrators who are willing to stand against the progressive faculty and parents refusing to send their children to these ideologically captured institutions. Sadly, I don’t see either one of these things happening anytime soon.
To say that I can hardly wait to retire is an understatement. On the positive side, I’m at least grateful to be in the Midwest. I imagine that the situation is much worse for heterodox faculty at universities on the west and east coast.
Enlightening comment. The kids are coming into university uneducated since our public schools are largely deficient, underfunded - and leave university equally so because of grade inflation and rampant progressive bias (and I say this as a liberal). So in the end, after having spent a hundred and fifty to two hundred grand on an education at an elite institution, a graduating student has a diploma not worth the paper it's printed on. And has the lack of verbal, writing and critical thinking skills to prove it. This is our next leadership generation.
Hang in there, BP.