At the Heterodox Academy conference, Wesleyan University president Michael Roth highlighted the resonating complaints from attendees about higher education's wokeness and the push toward authoritarianism. He argued that current concerns about academic integrity are overshadowed by the existential threat to universities posed by governmental efforts to undermine their legitimacy. Roth emphasized the importance of maintaining intellectual diversity and resisting the political biases that could threaten educational quality and freedom, stating that reforming universities is trivial compared to the larger crisis at hand.
"Your complaints at the Heterodox conferences for almost 10 years now-about being too woke, about not having enough jobs for white people, about too many women in the academy-have found resonance with an authoritarian push to control our spaces."
"We can make nice and not say that and we won't get investigated, or we can do our job, which is to call the indecent attack on our sector indecent, wrongheaded, lawless, authoritarian, fascistic-choose your words."
"Right now that would be like talking about needing a better milkshake when the house is on fire."
"The federal government is trying to destroy civil society by undermining the legitimacy of colleges and universities, of law firms-entertainment is on deck, and journalism."
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