aAfter congressional hearings last week on campus anti-Semitism, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria offered commentary on the topic that was both predictable and shocking. Like most commentators, Zakaria criticized universities and presidents who testified before Congress. He then said that the country’s colleges and universities, especially the so-called elite academic universities, “are no longer viewed as bastions of excellence but rather as partisan outfits.”
However, this is nothing new. Conservatives have been saying that for years. The truly shocking part is that it took until 2023 for Zakaria and others on the left to publicly acknowledge this.
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“In order to understand the performance of these universities, we have to understand the broad transformation that occurred in elite universities, which went from being centers of excellence to institutions pushing political agendas,” Zakaria said.
Mass transformation? It has been a consistent left axis for decades. Has Zakaria not set foot on campus since the 1960s? Did he roll his eyes every time there was a story about left-wing totalitarianism happening on college campuses? Or was he deliberately ignorant because he did not want to believe the truth, because it did not align with his ideological narrative?
Consider the origins of the left’s “Long March” with its myriad of agitators, hippies, and anti-war movements, which began in the 1960s. Universities mobilized college students to do their dirty work and organize protests to promote far-left ideals, values, and beliefs. One of the first such demonstrations occurred on September 14, 1964, on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, and was part of what was deceptively called the “Free Speech Movement.”
The works of socialist academic C. Wright Mills influenced the organizers of this event. Other inspirations include Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci. These acolytes were socialists and communists who viewed the United States as evil, racist, and imperialist, essentially the original versions of the left’s systemic racism and white supremacy. They strongly opposed the American government.
College campuses also served as welcoming homes for groups such as Students for a Democratic Society, democratic organizations such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Under the guise of promoting a “free and democratic society” and “participatory democracy,” they were agitators who intimidated, intimidated, and harassed anyone who disagreed with them, and used aggressive and sometimes illegal tactics to advance their far-left agendas, such as the “Black Power” and anti-war movements. By 1969, the SDS reportedly had over 300 branches and an estimated 100,000 student supporters.
Moreover, such movements were often funded by contemporary international communist governments, such as Cuba, China, North Korea, and the Soviet Union. It is a convenient truth that the left regularly ignores, and that academia and the communications elite ignore.
Another occurred in 1993 at the University of Pennsylvania with the “Water Buffalo Incident.” Then, Eden Jacobowitz, an Israeli-born student who teaches at the school, shouted, “Shut up, water buffalo!” “If you’re looking for a party, there’s a zoo a mile from here,” he shouted from his window to a loud, anxious crowd of sorority girls. They were primarily black.
The university accused Jacobowitz of violating the university’s racial harassment policy and making his life an unbearable hell. He was eventually acquitted and a lawsuit with the school was settled a few years after this happened.
Other examples of leftist cultural hegemony include several schools, including the University of Pennsylvania, which essentially held a period of mourning and open weeping after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election in which classes and tests were canceled and students were allowed to attend school. Assignments missed deadlines due to “shock” associated with Trump’s victory. There was no reciprocal “mourning period” with similar accommodations when President Joe Biden won in 2020.
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Other examples of the left’s “long march” toward inclusivity on college campuses include chaos, bullying, and intimidation by left-wing students when Republican pundits are scheduled to speak on campuses. Students nearly rioted over planned appearances at colleges by Ben Shapiro and Ann Coulter. Cornell University even gave in to the left’s demands and canceled Coulter’s November 2022 appearance.
For Zakaria, or anyone on the left, to express shock or anger as if this is a recent development is intellectually disingenuous. This has been happening for years, but they all turned a blind eye because these antics were ideologically aligned with their values. They knew what was happening but chose to support the ideological corruption of the universities. The shock and disbelief they are feigning now is neither legitimate nor credible.
For decades, college campuses have been characterized as hotbeds of leftist ideology, often associated with oppressive behavior and bullying towards those with differing viewpoints. Since the 1960s, the campus culture has been dominated by radical activism and political correctness, leading to a stifling environment for free speech and open dialogue. The prevalence of left-wing ideology has created a climate of fear and intimidation for those who challenge the prevailing narrative, making it difficult for diverse perspectives to be heard and respected. This trend has sparked widespread debate and concern about the state of intellectual freedom and diversity on college campuses.