The article presents a nuanced view of American higher education. While it acknowledges pervasive criticisms, such as the stifling of diverse ideas and the presence of discrimination, it emphasizes the everyday realities in colleges, where students from various backgrounds thrive through interaction and exposure to new perspectives. The author, a college president, illustrates the positive impact of financial aid, promoting equity among students. This perspective counters the narrative of higher education being solely negative, advocating for its reformation rather than its destruction based on selective anecdotes.
Every day, in articles, podcasts and social media, I learn about American higher education. I learn that it aggressively stifles ideas that deviate from a narrow leftist orthodoxy.
Every day I see students from myriad backgrounds and with disparate beliefs flourishing because they interact with one another in class, in the dining hall, in student residences.
Every day I am reminded that racism, sexism and transphobia have not been eliminated from our classrooms or our campuses-despite seeing daily evidence of our efforts to ensure that neither race, religion, nor any other identity confers advantages or disadvantages on our students, faculty and staff.
It is because I see what college is every day, and not just what occurs on rare days on some campuses, that I know that ongoing efforts to tear down higher education are a travesty.
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