What does the term ''university" reasonably encompass? Why not just call it Harvard Academy or Massachusetts State Indoctrination Center (instead of UMass) or Oberlin Soviet or California Post Secondary Reeducation Camp or something more honest than "University" for the love of truth. "University" surely means a setting in which a very extensive range of well supported views (exclusive, yes, of completely discredited and subhuman views like Naziism and Marxism, except as objects of historical study)is of necessity and intellectual integrity embraced both by faculty, students and administration. Integral to this is scrupulous tolerance by the decision and rule makers of these entities, schooled nonetheless as they were in the "revolutionary" later twentieth century and even the dawning twenty first in totalitarian contempt for concepts found to be "icky" by the elect, for the credible universe of views and conclusions in an information rich world.
Harvard, Harvard itself, a place where students used at least to assume that among their classmates were future Presidents, prophets of law and all manner of influential personalities, has made an administrative decision, apparently supported by its faculty (a formidable bunch to be sure, I mean imagine being a Professor at Harvard) to ban all sororities and fraternities, organizations which are by tradition (gasp) and definition defined by the gender of their membership and all other organizations similarly organized. One can safely predict that organizations which exclude all but certain politically correct genders and races will be excepted from this proscription in very good time. The outgoing Harvard President opined that "gender"is an arbitrary decision among individuals. Really!? I suppose the possession of male or female reproductive organs and all thatt they generate in behavior and its consequences are illusions, capable of infinite manipulation yes? Baloney! This is powerful, neo Orwellian nonsense.
Let Harvard and any private school do as it will. Let their decisions speak for them in the yet free marketplace of education in this still free country. Before 1946 and the GI Bill, prominent universities were mostly unknown to the real America( and this change of print by my contemptuous computer is none of my doing); perhaps that separation is once again appropriate? The problem arises when public schools pursue the same bigoted exclusivity.
Some schools have published statements of support for academic freedom. That's all well and good but we'll see if they have the guts to follow through! I would very much welcome criticism of my view on this from present day faculty or students. Jack
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Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Jack. As you suggested, Harvard appears to intend to apply sanctions only to all-male groups. That's predictable. Women, as usual, can be as sexist as they like.
https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/05/harvard-reaffirms-ban-on-single-sex-orga
Dr.Waddy: Harvard's actions are true to the form we have come to expect since 1917 from leftist totalitarians. "Some are more equal than others" etc, etc ad nauseum. The highly educated still make up the majority of the decision makers in our culture and it is a matter of grave concern to see the traditionally most rigorous of our schools disgracing themselves in this manner. As they spinelessly surrender to "political correctness" their campuses become swamps of bigotry, intolerance and intellectual humbug. Since the 60's are now 50 years past, perhaps many of their alumni approve. I think the extreme left will be chased back to the laughable margins of our polity, where it originated, perhaps when the boomers depart. They will have done incalculable damage but some societies have survived worse. If it doesn't get some backbone by then the Ivy League may well be regarded as a silly playground by the real America
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