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Thursday, November 25, 2004
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GEORGE WILL ON LIBERAL UNIVERSITIES
"Academics, such as the next secretary of state, still decorate Washington, but academia is less listened to than it was. It has marginalized itself, partly by political shrillness and silliness that have something to do with the parochialism produced by what George Orwell called 'smelly little orthodoxies.' Many campuses are intellectual versions of one-party nations -- except such nations usually have the merit, such as it is, of candor about their ideological monopolies. In contrast, American campuses have more insistently proclaimed their commitment to diversity as they have become more intellectually monochrome. They do indeed cultivate diversity -- in race, skin color, ethnicity, sexual preference. In everything but thought." UD trusts this means that Mr. Will will stop accepting the lucrative speaking and teaching engagements he has for decades accepted at a host of corrupt and malodorous campuses. (Readers may recall the still not resolved controversy involving ABC reporters like Will, Cokie Roberts, and others, accepting extremely high fees to speak before business and academic groups. Voluntarily withdrawing from such activity would be honorable.) UD also looks forward to another column in which Will examines the diversity of thought he encounters in corporate settings. |