10 Myths That the University Doesn't Let Die

Ashley Thorne

  • Article
  • March 10, 2010

At the Pope Center, Jay Schalin has a great article listing 10 discredited ideas propagated by colleges and universities. He says academics "tend to live in a theoretical universe, while the rest of America deals with real things with real consequences." These are the myths he lists (see original article for his commentary on each):

  1. There is no liberal bias in academia.
  2. Everybody should go to college.
  3. Academia is more noble than the business community.
  4. Diversity makes everything better.
  5. All faculty research is necessary and/or important.
  6. Academic freedom means anything goes.
  7. Higher education drives the economy.
  8. Natural aptitude doesn't matter.
  9. Morality is relative.
  10. All cultures are equally good.

As we have seen with Marxism, after radical movements lose credibility and die in the world at large, they remain in higher education and continue to shape the worldview of rising generations. This will also most likely be the case with the rising "sustainability" trend on campus.

  • Share

Most Commented

January 24, 2024

1.

After Claudine

The idea has caught on that the radical left overplayed its hand in DEI and is now vulnerable to those of us who seek major reforms. This is not, however, the first time that the a......

February 13, 2024

2.

The Great Academic Divorce with China

All signs show that American education is beginning a long and painful divorce with the People’s Republic of China. But will academia go through with it?...

October 31, 2023

3.

University of Washington Violated Non-Discrimination Policy, Internal Report Finds

A faculty hiring committee at the University of Washington “inappropriately considered candidates’ races when determining the order of offers,” provided “disparate op......

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

September 21, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Does YHWH Elohim Mean?

A reader asks, "If Elohim refers to multiple 'gods,' then Yhwh Elohim really means Lord of Gods...the one of many, right?" A Hebrew expert answers....