Americans lose confidence in universities

An annual survey conducted by New America reveals that citizens' trust in universities has plunged in recent years. No less than 14 points since 2020. Two years ago, more than two-thirds of Americans said colleges were having a positive effect on the country. Now, that percentage is much lower.

The Sixth Annual New America Higher Education Survey interviewed 1,517 Americans ages 18 and older to better understand their perceptions of education. The results that were released this Tuesday.

Politicization

The data coincides with the controversy that has been generated by the ideological positions taken by several universities considered elite. Georgetown sanctioned law professor Ilya Shapiro for his criticism of President Joe Biden. The professor resigned after the university concluded that a tweet, which criticized Biden's pledge to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, "denigrated people on the basis of race, gender and sex". This was the conclusion of a report by the law school's Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action, as reported in the Washington Free Beacon.

Princeton University dismissed Joshua Katz, a renowned conservative professor who was fired for allegedly writing an article in July 2020 about a test for Quillette in which he complained about the additional benefits that the university had given to certain staff "for no other reason than because of their pigmentation", he argued.

On the other hand, Clarence Thomas, of the George Washington University Law Department, has informed the institution that he is forced to resign from his teaching position because of the campaign against him, after having been one of the five Supreme Court judges who signed the ruling Dobbs vs. Jackson. That ruling marked the end of Roe vs. Wade, which recognized abortion as a right.

As reported by The GW Hatchet, Professor Gregory Maggs has sent an e-mail to his students informing them that the constitutional law seminar he was co-leading with Clarence Thomas will not feature the Supreme Court justice. Both jurists had conducted this seminar continuously since 2011.

Gross disproportion

According to an Econ Journal study by economists Mitchell Langbert, Anthony Quain and Daniel Klein of more than 40 of the nation's top universities, there is a ratio of 11.5 Democratic Party-affiliated professors for every Republican Party faculty member. In addition, a Harvard student newspaper survey indicates that 82% of its professors are progressive, while only 1.5% are conservative. The survey was carried out on the staff of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the largest of the famous university.