The Conservative Critique of Higher Education Misses the Mark
George Will has an article here https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/higher-education-is-awash-with-hysteria-that-might-have-helped-elect-trump/2016/11/18/a589b14e-ace6-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html in which he caricatures higher education as coddling students, as sheltering them in "safe spaces" from "micro-aggressions" while providing "trigger warnings" of ideas and events that might upset them. In short, it's hysterical liberals who are responsible for electing Trump, according to Will. This is pure nonsense. Higher education is not too liberal: it's too beholden to corporate and financial interests and the military-industrial complex, as I explained in this article. Nowadays, higher ed is just another business, with students treated as customers and faculty as providers. And if we're going to run higher ed as a business, why not the country? If college presidents are hired because they are great at fund raising and have close ties to high finance and big government, why not elect a president whose main claim to fame is making (and losing) money?
George Will gets it exactly wrong: higher ed is not too liberal or too radical, it's far too obedient and compromised.