America’s universities are certainly in the news a lot these days. In today’s Wall Street Journal, within the first section I found four large stories: “Colleges Seek More from Deals,” “The Silencing of Heather Mac Donald,” “Witness to the Star Chamber,” and “How to End a Campus Injustice with the Stroke of a Pen.” Collectively, one could argue the stories demonstrate three things about today’s campuses. First, their leaders are rather greedy rent-seekers consumed with revenue maximization. Second, they mightily strive for adulation amongst what they regard as enlightened society, namely leftish politically correct elites (and also cash-disbursing politicians). Third, they increasingly have abandoned their historic belief in promoting free speech and civil but vigorous debate.
This is truly a tale of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The article about universities making deals with private enterprise regarding non-academic college functions actually speaks to one relatively commendable trend in universities: an increasing out-sourcing of non-core functions to private businesses. Ohio State’s 50 year leasing on its heating, cooling, and power systems for over a $1 billion was probably very smart — what do universities know about running utilities? That follows up on a similar deal they made leasing parking facilities. Colleges should be about teaching and research, not running food operations, dormitories, power plants, and the like.
Moving on to the “bad,” Claremont McKenna College (CMC)’s largely shutting down a speech by Heather Mac Donald is shameful. CMC had done a good thing — sign on to the Chicago Principles asserting academic freedom and free speech is vital — but somehow could not stop some demonstrators who did not like Mac Donald’s views, actually a very topical and I think important message relating to protests, Black Lives Matter, and the role of police in law enforcement. The only good thing about the incident: college president Hiram Chodosh promised that the students preventing unfettered free speech “will be held accountable.” If he follows through by truly delivering appropriately severe punishment to the perpetrators — expulsion or at least a long suspension — CMC will redeem itself. This is not the first such incident the school has faced in recent years, and if it wants to keep its reputation as one of the best liberal arts colleges west of the Mississippi, it needs to act forcibly.
