What’s Wrong With the Universities, and How to Fix It: Part 2

Dictatorial governance has been superseded by faculty governance, and most faculty members bear little resemblance to the legendary teachers of the past.

In this file image, students arrive for their graduation ceremony in London. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Commentary

The first installment in this series explained that colleges and universities have been centers of orthodoxy and intolerance far more than they have been havens of tolerance and free inquiry. It also explained that the concept of “academic freedom” is fairly recent and derived much of its force from efforts to protect left-wing academics from political reprisal during the Cold War (1945–1990).