I attended undergrad in the late 2010s and through the pandemic. I view university administrators as cowardly and unprincipled, creatures of bureaucratic bloat. Unwilling to stand up against social fashions and rowdy students, much less threats to funding from a hostile government in this era of shrinking undergrad enrollment. Dark times for our institutions.
On another note, it’s quite common (and constitutional as I understand it) to tie some *opt-in* federal funding to some types of otherwise unconstitutional requirements on states and public institutions. I’m not saying I agree with the requirements on universities described in the article (especially with respect to student protest), but I don’t see how this is legally different, even under the previous Supreme Court.
I run through some of the issues in this piece below. But basically, the federal government can't tell a a private business or institution to censor someone else's constitutionally protected speech, then threaten retaliation if they refuse. So if they say: "Can this professor, or you're losing federal funding" that professor very well may have a first amendment claim.
Imagine being 18 years old and faced with the option of borrowing a 6-digit sum to study as an undergrad, at a university teaching within the alternative-fact fantasy of fascism.
Would you take on this debt, for the privilege of being inculcated?
If this "compact" were adopted, how long will it take before autodidacts begin outnumbering degree holders, among Americans educated here?
Why does this remind me of tariffs as a negotiation strategy.
You're not crazy. I very nearly made the same comparison in the piece, but thought I'd be getting a little too deep in the weeds.
I attended undergrad in the late 2010s and through the pandemic. I view university administrators as cowardly and unprincipled, creatures of bureaucratic bloat. Unwilling to stand up against social fashions and rowdy students, much less threats to funding from a hostile government in this era of shrinking undergrad enrollment. Dark times for our institutions.
On another note, it’s quite common (and constitutional as I understand it) to tie some *opt-in* federal funding to some types of otherwise unconstitutional requirements on states and public institutions. I’m not saying I agree with the requirements on universities described in the article (especially with respect to student protest), but I don’t see how this is legally different, even under the previous Supreme Court.
I run through some of the issues in this piece below. But basically, the federal government can't tell a a private business or institution to censor someone else's constitutionally protected speech, then threaten retaliation if they refuse. So if they say: "Can this professor, or you're losing federal funding" that professor very well may have a first amendment claim.
https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/am-i-a-big-fat-hypocrite-on-speech
Imagine being 18 years old and faced with the option of borrowing a 6-digit sum to study as an undergrad, at a university teaching within the alternative-fact fantasy of fascism.
Would you take on this debt, for the privilege of being inculcated?
If this "compact" were adopted, how long will it take before autodidacts begin outnumbering degree holders, among Americans educated here?
…
What a question!