It's more a question of worldview. When so many subjects are taught through a certain lens (which they have to be, since as I first was told in journalism school at Berkeley, there is no objectivity), it collectively infiltrates the minds that, sadly, likely weren't classically schooled in logic and rhetoric, and which are still largely the sponges (albeit leaky ones) of the grammar stage, which absorbed the same liberal secular humanistic values in their public K-12 education...so it's really a gradual, subtle, (individually) unintentional process of indoctrination rather than in-your-face brainwashing like Hitler. That's what makes it so effective. I grew up in the system in the very progressive Bay Area (in Marin, the liberal epicenter, where I still live) and experienced a wide variety of teachers and professors, nearly all who had the worldview I described above. A handful were open minded and truly tolerant, but that was only evident because I pushed back. My best profs were Christopher Hitchens (ironically) and Sandy Muir (one of the few conservatives at Cal). Most of the students didn't resist the status quo, having been immersed in it since childhood. I stand by my slogan "Escape the Matrix: Question Organized Education, the Institution of the Media, and the Hollywood Establishment." The mass communicators shape the current culture.

This was a very poor piece of writing, and my personal experience was that there wasn't room for counter argument from a "conservative" viewpoint...I'm picturing my philosophy class, when I raised a question about the Big Bang theory (yes, that was a topic in philosophy!), only to be interrupted and talked over by the professor: "This isn't up for debate." Really? Or the time I made a passing reference to church in my intro to lit survey class and was thereafter referred to as the "really religious" student, which seemed to undermine every other observation I made in class. I learned to keep myself to myself and feign liberalism, after that.

"The words liberal and conservative, left and right, should not be thrown around as either blanket praise or blanket condemnation. In fact, I think these words have outlived their usefulness. You can be culturally, politically (domestic), politically (international), economically, or theologically left/right, and that says very little about your other positions." Thank you of summing up my recent thoughts so succinctly. I am so tired of being labeled and having my "obvious views" as such completely and utterly misunderstood before I even get a chance to represent them beyond the hazy outline of my white-female-stay-at-home-mom-ness. As a big fan of higher education and the kind of experiences it brings, I'd like a chance to represent myself BEFORE the arguments kick in. These labels are worse than meaningless, as they become a barrier to communication and understanding, instead of a shortcut.

I don't doubt that you are not personally out to indoctrinate your students. I don't even doubt that the majority of professors at William and Mary share your desire simply to educate, prepare, and help students learn to THINK. That said, I attended a Cal State University, and can absolutely attest that even back in my day (early 90's), the humanities dept was liberal and not interested in hearing any traditionalist interpretations, understandings, or explanations. I was an English Lit major, wrote a biography/poetry exploration of Anne Bradstreet as my senior thesis - but continually ran into trouble when I tried to explain how traditional Christianity was present in her poetry - but not necessarily all of the feminist viewpoints my professors wanted me to see. There were definitely alternative explanations...but not that my professor found acceptable - even though he did not understand the theology of the Puritans. Two of my kids have graduated from University of CA or Cal State Universities. First was a Geology major - she transferred schools and degrees, because of the hostility she encountered due to her belief in what she euphemistically (and in an attempt at self-preservation) described as "intelligent design." Yes, conservative students in some majors and at some schools really are attacked by professors for their beliefs. Third kid? He is at a Christian university studying engineering - learned from his brother's experience at a Cal State - and just didn't want to have to read some of the works they are required to read for diversity education. Are "universities" liberal? - well, no. I will grant you that. But I will absolutely assure you that Virginia is a far cry from California - and there surely are a lot of very liberal professors in colleges and universities here that make life pretty difficult for kids who would like to defend their faith. Not "Hey, you need to be able to think for yourself" difficult - but "Why are you even here? Christians are notoriously close-minded. It is a waste of education to have you here." (That was actually said to ME, in 1993, by a professor of British Literature at Cal State Northridge.) I also had a professor in another English class who not only passed around sign-up sheets for Socialist meetings, but he would give extra credit for class if you came. He wasn't too friendly when challenged. Just by the way - I don't watch Faux News, did not vote for Trump, and don't believe in a vast left-wing conspiracy. But liberal campuses that are actually unfriendly to conservatives? After having experienced that over the past 30 years in one form or another, I have to say that does exist.

"If you’re not that stupid, though, in real life academia is populated heavily with people whose platonic ideal of a politician is someone like Tim Kaine." Umm, Tim Kaine was Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2016. I hardly find that comforting that university professors consider someone like him to be the ideal politician. I graduated from college only three years ago. Being a conservative on campus, I and other students like me knew that we needed to keep our mouths shut because we just went there to get our diplomas. One professor even told me privately that she had to teach certain ideas but that didn't mean that she believed them or approved of them.

Seriously, you recommended this as a good read🙄 My husband and I went to college along time ago. He can tell you “unbiased” stories of teachers indoctrination into very liberal thinking! And yes the teachers were focused! I actually went to a more conservative school because of the area, and took business classes. And many teachers preferred the socialist model. And yes we were taught that.🙄🙄🙄 It wasn’t until I got out of college and entered the business world until my eyes were opened! And did some international travel.

For a person who doesn’t want to be lumped in with the extreme examples of progressives it’s rather amusing to see how he does exactly that with modern conservatives. That said, while it may not always be true of the higher ups, my experiences with run-of-the-mill profs supports exactly the opposite of what he’s claiming. A friend, who is a professor, also backs this up. It’s very much a keep a low profile kind of deal if you’re a conservative working at that university.

We have always used your books for our home school efforts and love them. I don't understand why you would believe what you've written. It's not the material in conservative media today about universities that concerns me, it's the curriculum and the faculty. I look at my former university's website as an example. Many of their courses reflect far left thinking. Their employees are the same. How can you say there is no agenda?

I tried three times to read through his rant...ugh...op ed. I couldn't stay focused. He sounds like a "snowflake" himself. You, Susan Wise Bauer, could have constructed a more mature, intelligent, and judicial argument. If Ed rants like this in class, in front of his captured audience "minds full of mush" students, then he is portraying himself exactly like we right-wing, anti-intellectuals imagine academia to be.

I guess you don’t have to indoctrinate if you make sure viewpoints are silenced. The only B I got in graduate school was from a sociology professor who told me that I didn’t need to do any outside research, that everything I wrote had to come from the class notes and from the class textbook. I couldn’t do it. I tried to make myself type what he wanted to read, and it made me physically ill, I took the B.

I agree not all university faculty members are out to indoctrinate. But there exist some institutions that are being driven by social justice ideologies and disputed “science”. And I would say it’s not ultimately the faculty at fault for this labeling of universities as places of indoctrination: it’s administrators who allow one special interest group of students to silence and intimidate the oppositional group. A hater and bigot is not by definition “someone who disagrees with you”. Faculty can recognize it’s not about them.

After reading what the article's author, Ed Burmila, wrote about himself in "About Ed" at ginandtacos.com, I'm not terribly interested in his opinions about higher educatIon.

Are you serious? Pick a college, pull up the website, and I'll show you many reasons to never send my children to most colleges.

I'm sure that folks like Bret Weinstein and Erika Kristakis thought the Academy was a balanced, even slightly-to-the right institution, too. Yet what they have had to suffer should make anyone who cares about American universities cringe. And unlike the author's hyperbolic example, mine come from truth, not fiction. To his larger points, private universities have always been under a business model. The model just had more components and more money in the system than ever before. This is the problem with federal monies and the prevailing idea that college is for everyone. It has nothing to do with whether or not professors and departments are more to the left than ever before. I find the author's argument a complete non-sequitur. That said, I completely agree wirh your final remark, Dr. Bauer - I'm fond of saying that before one calls something "liberal" or "conservative", one ought to understand what one is liberating or conserving. But I must say, that was not the takeaway that I would have had from this article had you not mentioned it.

The comments section of this post really demonstrates how vilified intelligence and logic have become. People have become so die hard when it comes to their partisan alliance...they can't even see their fellow humans as just that...human.

Ha! Reading the comments makes the article even better.

I, for one, believe that academia is a nostalgic place nowadays; it’s a place where one goes to recall what intellectualism was meant to be. I wonder if one wonders why we don’t have renaissance-men (polymaths) anymore.

Having watched my son go through what we thought of as a very liberal college (CU Boulder), I have to say we have been so pleased that this type of indoctrination hasn’t happened. He’s had good arguments and well thought out debates with both professors and students and has felt that his more conservative voice was heard and respected.

I say a hearty AMEN to your last paragraph above. Those long-used terms are simply inadequate and inaccurate these days.

Amen to your ending comment! I have long hated the terms liberal and conservative.

So you are a academic defending that academics are altruistic and noble. Makes sense.

Your last paragraph is spot on. I don’t like being cubbyholed.

This article is great.

It's all in definitions again. "Indoctrination" is generally seen as intentional. I don't think anyone can say, without a shadow of doubt that every professor of a class doesn't push his beliefs as the correct ones. They know how to steer questions, and use outlandish, impossible scenarios to get naive students not taught to critically think in high school to follow their path of thinking. That is not the same as learning to think for one's self: Rather, it is being taught to think like the professor. Yes, some are actually open for argumentation, but there are A LOT of professors who feel they have 'all the knowledge' and it is their job to fill the empty buckets of their students who have a lot to learn...about the values of Socialism, for one. In my Philosophy of Education courses at Boston University during graduate work, out of the 3 primary books we were required to study, 2 were written by staunch Socialists and one was a Communist. Believe me, the tenets of these doctrines are 'under the radar'...but they get through to empty heads and empty thinkers. No wonder the schools are filled primarily with liberal K-12 teachers, many who believe in Socialist ideals. However, most of my grad professors were like you described...not pushing agendas. But I would say at least two used their music education courses to infiltrate subliminal agendas on topics such as global warming and the LGBT agenda. You tell me what that had to do with education...🤨

Liam Meade

Susan, I really enjoy reading what you write. You make me laugh, think, question, and wonder. Today you made me laugh with the line: “Newly discovered charcoal graffiti, probably written by a construction worker right before the eruption of Vesuvius, says that he had a great lunch…” 😆😆

My husband and I climbed Vesuvius on our honeymoon. There's a wine stand at the top. We should have had a glass there, but we didn't. That guy is such a goner if it erupts.

My daughter was incredibly excited by this news: her birthday is October 24th. We're on vacation right now and she just ran to tell her great-grandmother. xD

Oddly this reminds me of An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. Have you read it, Susan Wise Bauer? Her description of the construction of the bridge between Tampa and Miami is almost harrowing. But the Florida Everglades is a place where we ought not to build. And yet...

So many people live near the volcano now. We visited there two years ago.

Yardley Hill