The author argues that if US universities and colleges are to revive and thrive, they need to rethink four fundamental principles— “The US has taken the first two principles — democratization and marketization — too far. They need to be reined in. It has faltered in its support for the third and fourth principles — meritocracy and freedom of speech. It needs to redouble its support for the third and demonstrate that the fourth is non-negotiable…”
“The best news may be the (albeit belated) rallying behind freedom of speech…[including] A new faculty-led organization at Harvard has vowed to defend academic freedom and civil discourse.”
In-keeping with the FAIR HA+ September 2022 letter to the Harvard presidential search committee, the author warns, “At a time when the world is confronted with dark clouds of misinformation from both foreign autocracies and click-mad social media platforms, American universities need to demonstrate beyond doubt that they are on the side of light and truth.”
