Wow! Interesting! We follow Elon pretty darn closely but missed that. I will definitely be doing more research on Sergei. After reading Ashlee Vance's bio on Elon, the whole thing about his trip to Russia has a lot more context. Thank you for sharing that. :-)
What a shit hole. I wish I could write something a little more eloquent, but damn, shit hole is the only thing I can think about. You work your ass off to wear an iron mask and a sweatshirt with an S on it. It's barbaric.
The anonymous witness crap, the lack of due process, an investigation with no qualified investigators. It is completely insane. An academic bureaucrat as investigators and tormentors? No due process? It is so colossally sick and wrong. But above all not single person in the University to stand up and say this is wrong? Holy shit these are dumb and weak human beings.
If you are student or a parent sending your child into this meat grinder to 'get ahead' you should review your own morals and ethics. More importantly, you should ask the fundamental question about whether you love your kid or not when promoting Elite University Success Syndrome.
Marxists and postmodernists don't care about innocence until proven guilty. Campuses are collectivist hells where one group is held above another because of some perceived place on the pyramid of oppression.
I'm disappointed that The Free Press thinks that the assult Katie Meyer commited was not a serious matter, just an "impulsive act." And I'm disappointed you implied her victim was never charged or investigated due to Stanford's negligence. Perhaps there just wasn't a shred of evidence.
The reason the Police didn't pursue charges against Meyer for her assault is that the victim said he wanted to let it go. That's his right, of course, but I don't think it's a moral response. She would have just gone on to commit more and greater assaults, now that she was empowered to do so.
Of course, it's a tragedy she killed herself, but perhaps it's more of a sign of her own mental issues than Stanford's fault. It must have been awful for her to learn that everything she does isn't wonderful, and that she's capable of mistakes. Nobody had ever pointed that out to her before.
Note that I'm not defending Stanford. It's a sick, sick culture that's just recently brought us everything from Theranos to Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyer-professor-parents, to many of the staff of Silicon Valley Bank. I have a consulting company in Silicon Valley and we won't hire out of Stanford becasue the kids we see are entitled assholes. Stanford culture self-selects for them.
So I was an unmotivated small state school student, and I recall several of my more interesting professors, who had degrees from prestigious universities, alluding to the fact that gaining tenure at more prestigious universities would have required them to compromise their principles. They never went into detail. I didn't realize then how brave they were being by simply telling us that much... Especially the younger, untenured ones.
Some of the most rational and reasonable people I've ever met appeared almost powerless inside the very institutions that were built on the Socratic and Scientific methods.
These places suck the life out of you. My school, the University of Pennsylvania (AB, JD) is an embarrassment. From letting a confused male swimmer compete against women to firing a tenured law professor for something she said. Princeton - the town in which I’ve lived for 40 years - similarly fired a tenured professor for what he said. One of the problems is that these schools are administratively top heavy and staffed with agendas driven by woke principles (an oxymoron). They have more say than the faculty and have turned much of the student body into non-resilient crybabies who demand that the University guarantee them happiness 24/7. My higher education contributions now go to UATX, Hillsdale College and baby elephants.
Why would anyone want to go to Stanford when they treat people that way. That's insanity in my opinion. What is the point ? That you can endure the most scrutiny and oversight of your every thought and action ? My God, you can count me out.
Don't forget this is also the school that issued that ridiculous list of terms you're not supposed to use, like "blind study" and "lame" and "fat" and all kinds of others I can't remember.
This isn’t targeting any students-they are targeting athletes and fraternity brothers, while law students who clearly break both Stanford and Stanford law school codes go absolutely unpunished. Each of them should be investigated re possible expulsion with the Duncan episode. These undergrads are being harassed and mentally abused by a bureaucratic class with no consequences whatsoever. Mental cruelty does not do it justice.
Training future elite leaders to live in a police state. Normalizing totalitarianism. That’s what this is. That’s the long game. A giant bureaucracy of ideologues. They monitor your actions. They monitor your speech. Then punish without mercy or logic or rules that make any sense. Stalin would be proud. The USSR won.
Unreal.
Wow! Interesting! We follow Elon pretty darn closely but missed that. I will definitely be doing more research on Sergei. After reading Ashlee Vance's bio on Elon, the whole thing about his trip to Russia has a lot more context. Thank you for sharing that. :-)
What a shit hole. I wish I could write something a little more eloquent, but damn, shit hole is the only thing I can think about. You work your ass off to wear an iron mask and a sweatshirt with an S on it. It's barbaric.
The anonymous witness crap, the lack of due process, an investigation with no qualified investigators. It is completely insane. An academic bureaucrat as investigators and tormentors? No due process? It is so colossally sick and wrong. But above all not single person in the University to stand up and say this is wrong? Holy shit these are dumb and weak human beings.
If you are student or a parent sending your child into this meat grinder to 'get ahead' you should review your own morals and ethics. More importantly, you should ask the fundamental question about whether you love your kid or not when promoting Elite University Success Syndrome.
Marxists and postmodernists don't care about innocence until proven guilty. Campuses are collectivist hells where one group is held above another because of some perceived place on the pyramid of oppression.
https://unskool.substack.com/p/howard-zinns-legacy-of-encouraging
Fantastic article. I have so many conflicting feelings after reading it. That means it’s good!
Now, THAT is good news.
Excellent article, Francesca! Thank you for spreading awareness of this important issue. And kudos on your first piece for TFP.
I'm disappointed that The Free Press thinks that the assult Katie Meyer commited was not a serious matter, just an "impulsive act." And I'm disappointed you implied her victim was never charged or investigated due to Stanford's negligence. Perhaps there just wasn't a shred of evidence.
The reason the Police didn't pursue charges against Meyer for her assault is that the victim said he wanted to let it go. That's his right, of course, but I don't think it's a moral response. She would have just gone on to commit more and greater assaults, now that she was empowered to do so.
Of course, it's a tragedy she killed herself, but perhaps it's more of a sign of her own mental issues than Stanford's fault. It must have been awful for her to learn that everything she does isn't wonderful, and that she's capable of mistakes. Nobody had ever pointed that out to her before.
Note that I'm not defending Stanford. It's a sick, sick culture that's just recently brought us everything from Theranos to Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyer-professor-parents, to many of the staff of Silicon Valley Bank. I have a consulting company in Silicon Valley and we won't hire out of Stanford becasue the kids we see are entitled assholes. Stanford culture self-selects for them.
So I was an unmotivated small state school student, and I recall several of my more interesting professors, who had degrees from prestigious universities, alluding to the fact that gaining tenure at more prestigious universities would have required them to compromise their principles. They never went into detail. I didn't realize then how brave they were being by simply telling us that much... Especially the younger, untenured ones.
Some of the most rational and reasonable people I've ever met appeared almost powerless inside the very institutions that were built on the Socratic and Scientific methods.
What an unbelievable story!!! Stanford sounds positively terrifying. They seem to be judge, jury and executioner.
While many college students could benefit from guidance, limits and personal responsibility, this approach is very oppressive and heavy handed.
These places suck the life out of you. My school, the University of Pennsylvania (AB, JD) is an embarrassment. From letting a confused male swimmer compete against women to firing a tenured law professor for something she said. Princeton - the town in which I’ve lived for 40 years - similarly fired a tenured professor for what he said. One of the problems is that these schools are administratively top heavy and staffed with agendas driven by woke principles (an oxymoron). They have more say than the faculty and have turned much of the student body into non-resilient crybabies who demand that the University guarantee them happiness 24/7. My higher education contributions now go to UATX, Hillsdale College and baby elephants.
Stanford University - where fun goes to die.
Why would anyone want to go to Stanford when they treat people that way. That's insanity in my opinion. What is the point ? That you can endure the most scrutiny and oversight of your every thought and action ? My God, you can count me out.
Don't forget this is also the school that issued that ridiculous list of terms you're not supposed to use, like "blind study" and "lame" and "fat" and all kinds of others I can't remember.
It's so weird when middle level bureaucrats are multiplied they become entitled and abusive. Who could have ever conceived of such an outcome?
This isn’t targeting any students-they are targeting athletes and fraternity brothers, while law students who clearly break both Stanford and Stanford law school codes go absolutely unpunished. Each of them should be investigated re possible expulsion with the Duncan episode. These undergrads are being harassed and mentally abused by a bureaucratic class with no consequences whatsoever. Mental cruelty does not do it justice.
Training future elite leaders to live in a police state. Normalizing totalitarianism. That’s what this is. That’s the long game. A giant bureaucracy of ideologues. They monitor your actions. They monitor your speech. Then punish without mercy or logic or rules that make any sense. Stalin would be proud. The USSR won.