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The Shadow University: The Betrayal Of Liberty On America's Campuses
a book by Harvey Silverglate and Alan Charles Kors
(our site's book review)
The Amazon blurb says that Universities once believed themselves to be sacred enclaves, where students and professors could debate the issues of the day and arrive at a better understanding of the human condition. Today, sadly, this ideal of the university is being quietly betrayed from within. Universities still set themselves apart from American society, but now they do so by enforcing their own politically correct worldview through censorship, double standards and a judicial system without due process. Faculty and students who threaten the prevailing norms may be forced to undergo "thought reform." In a surreptitious about-face, universities have become the enemy of a free society, and the time has come to hold these institutions to account.
The Shadow University: The Betrayal Of Liberty On America's Campuses is a stinging indictment of the covert system of justice on college campuses, exposing the widespread reliance on kangaroo courts and arbitrary punishment to coerce students and faculty into conformity. Alan Charles Kors and Harvey A. Silverglate, staunch civil libertarians and active defenders of free inquiry on campus, lay bare the totalitarian mindset that undergirds speech codes, conduct codes, and "campus life" bureaucracies, through which a cadre of deans and counselors indoctrinate students and faculty in an ideology that favors group rights over individual rights, sacrificing free speech and academic freedom to spare the sensitivities of currently favored groups. See Freedom of the Press—an American Delusion.
Besides shaking readers out of their complacency, The Shadow University imparts tales of abuse which lend urgency to their call for renewed openness on college campuses and dumping PC culture
From Maine to California, at public and private universities alike, liberty and fairness are the first casualties as teachers and students find themselves in the dock, presumed guilty until proven innocent and often forbidden to cross-examine their accusers. Kors and Silverglate introduce us to many of those who have firsthand experience of The Shadow University, including:
- The student at the center of the 1993 "Water Buffalo" case at the University of Pennsylvania who was brought up on charges of racial harassment after calling a group of rowdy students "water buffalo" -- even though the terms has no racial connotations.
- The Catholic residence adviser who was fired for refusing, on the grounds of religious conscience, to wear a symbol of lesbian and gay causes
- The professor who was investigated for sexual harassment when he disagreed with campus feminists about curriculum issues
- The student who was punished for laughing at a statement deemed offensive to others and who was ordered to undergo "sensitivity training" as a result.
The 1993 'Water Buffalo' case at the University of Pennsylvania about a student who was brought up on charges of racial harassment after calling a group of rowdy students 'water buffalo'—even though the terms has no racial connotations; If the rowdy students had 1st Amendment rights, then so did the insulters
If parents value college not just as a degree mill but as a chance to improve their children's minds, they should pay heed to The Shadow University
"If parents value college not just as a degree mill but as a chance to improve their children's minds, they should pay heed to this disturbing book."—The Wall Street Journal
"Kors and Silvergate deliver the unexpected. Refreshingly, they seem to believe that even if professors teach what they wish, Western civilization will survive. The abuses they describe need fixing, and this cogent book should help."—The New York Times
"Besides shaking readers out of their complacency, the tales of abuse lend urgency to their call for renewed openness on college campuses."—Booklist
"No longer do universities prize the uninhibited clash of ideas and opinions. On campuses from sea to shining sea, political correctness is the ruling orthodoxy and The Right Not To Be Offended trumps every consideration...The Shadow University: The Betrayal Of Liberty On America's Campuses sends up an unignorable flare."—The Boston Globe
"An eye-opening and well-documented expose....a wake-up call for parents, students, and professors alike."—Alan M. Dershowitz, Harvard Law School (more by Dershowitz: The Abuse Excuse: And Other Cop-outs, Sob Stories, and Evasions of Responsibility)
The Shadow University sends up an unignorable flare
Worshipping at the church of PC is not voluntary, it's required, and those who try to avoid it will be assaulted and smeared and threatened and doxed and trolled and harassed by Antifa and the PC police
As Kors and Silvergate see it, "The ’60s may be long past for most Americans, with various and diverse legacies left behind, but strangely enough, the best aspects of that decade’s idealistic agenda have died on our campuses—free speech, equality of rights, respect for private conscience and individuation, and a sense of undergraduate liberties and adult responsibilities. What remain of the ’60s on our campuses are its worst sides: intolerance of dissent from regnant political orthodoxy, the self-appointed power of self-designated “progressives” to set everyone else’s moral agenda, and, saddest of all, the belief that universities not only may but should suspend the rights of some in order to transform students, the culture, and the nation according to their ideological vision and desire.
The best things about the 1960s are dead, but the worst things are still here
"Universities are administered, above all, not by ideological zealots, but by careerists who have made a Faustian deal. They have preserved the most prestigious, productive, and administratively visible sides of their institutions—the parts, not coincidentally, that the public and potential donors see—from almost all of the depredations of ideological fervor. Physics, fundraising, athletics, microbiology, the medical schools, mathematics, financial management, physical plant, alumni relations, business, and metallurgy, for example, though no doubt caught up in the currents of our age, are not in the hands of ideological zealots. Rather, whole departments of the liberal arts have been given to those for whom universities represent, in their own minds, the revolutionary agency of our culture . . ." See The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture.
Schools indoctrinate our young with a victimology culture in which white males, past and present, are the victimizers and blacks and browns and females are the victims
The students have been victims of liberal arts departments in universities that have taken it as their sacred duty to indoctrinate our young with a victimology culture in which white males, past and present, are the victimizers and blacks and browns and females are the victims. The "progressive" guiders of our young have created an ugly tyranny over the souls, consciences, and individuality of our young. This is supposed to be a maturity process of self awareness that students are in charge of. But the dogmatic "progressives" don't want to leave anything to chance—they want the values developed at their institutions to reflect all the aspects of political correctness, so they indoctrinate accordingly, and any student who wishes to explore—or worse yet, adopt—alternative ideas and values and opinions is re-indoctrinated (brainwashed) out of this until they exactly conform to all tenets of political correctness. See Hating Whitey and Other Progressive Causes.
The 1950s were tainted with an overdose of conformity pressures; but the 21st century is reeking with pressures of mindless conformity, pressures from dogmatic 'progressives' who do not want you to think for yourself—just absorb PC
The students' rebellious impulses are stuffed back down their throats and they are shamed. You must believe what we tell you to believe and we will tolerate no deviation from the sacred PC bibles. So the "liberal" in liberal arts is no longer about freedom, discussions, or liberty, it is about the liberties the dogmatic "progressives" take with the minds of our young. They do not teach, they indoctrinate. Dogma, not knowledge, is imparted. If a female or black person complains that a white male has said something insensitive, the female or black person will automatically be believed and the white male is automatically a liar. He could end up kicked out of school. It is part of PC dogma that white males—past and present—are victimizers, so any disputes are resolved with this in mind. Student rules and regulations are warped to fit the poisonous PC dogma. Courses reflect PC dogma and history has been rewritten to reflect this poisonous PC dogma. An Orwellian nightmare of political reeducation, sensitivity training, speech codes, groupthink, and intimidation is laid on not just students but professors as well. Some have quit, disgusted with the zealots. Some were fired for not preaching the PC bible and toeing the party line. Conform or begone!
Today's students confront an Orwellian nightmare of political reeducation, sensitivity training, speech codes, and groupthink, and intimidation is laid on not just students but professors as well
Forget about growing into a distinct individual, universities teach groupthink—the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility
" . . . the loss of liberty on campuses is far greater than most people realize. Speech codes, which punish students and faculty for offensive or 'harassing' speech, are ubiquitous. Due process is the exception rather than the rule: secret judicial proceedings routinely deny accused faculty and students the right to be represented by legal counsel, to confront or call witnesses, and to have an impartial judge and appeals process. Most chilling of all, 'sensitivity training,' a.k.a. thought reform, tells students what to believe and labels them as 'in denial' or as 'oppressors' unless they profess the politically correct orthodoxy about race, gender, and so on. . . . Kors and Silverglate suggest two strategies for restoring liberty. First, litigate. Court challenges to university oppression frequently succeed. State universities are bound by the First Amendment and the requirements of due process; private universities are contractually bound to keep their promises of free inquiry and procedural fairness. Second, publicize oppression: Universities hate publicity. . . " (Source: The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses, Daniel Shapiro, FEE)
If Justice Thomas was a student at a liberal university, he'd get hounded until he either broke down and let the zealots assume control of his mind, or he'd quit, or he'd be expelled for having racist views! This is interesting, since Thomas feels affirmative action is racist—as do we!
If you believe, like Clarence Thomas who is black and on the Supreme Court, that affirmative action is a mistake, you will be harrassed, oppressed, and guilt-tripped until you believe what the PC zealots tell you to believe. If Justice Thomas was a student at a liberal university, he'd get hounded until he either broke down and let the zealots assume control of his mind, or he'd quit, or he'd be expelled for having racist views! This is interesting, since Thomas feels affirmative action is racist—as do we!
Feminists are screaming victimization by sexual harassment for every 'sexist' look, word or turn of phrase
"[the authors] argue that a double standard prevails, whereby self-appointed progressives censor voices deemed offensive to women, feminists, gays, ethnic or racial minorities, while these same 'progressives' condone equally offensive speech directed against conservatives, religious Christians and others." (Source: The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses, Publishers Weekly)
On liberal colleges, they prove their liberalism by censoring conservative thought as well as any type of thinking that doubts any aspect of the toxic PC scriptures
Universities are censoring conservative thought and even independent thought itself—the only exception being political correctness; the PC police crack down on anything not PC
"Alan Charles Kors and Harvey A. Silverglate tell a chilling tale of university administrators turned Grand Inquisitors, of students and faculty stripped of their basic due process rights, of a freshman orientation system intended to indoctrinate and intimidate. They expose higher education's underbelly: the assault on liberty and true academic freedom (waged in the name of political correctness and group rights) that is occurring at so many of our nation's colleges and universities. Kors and Silverglate document precisely how inhospitable campuses are today to the pursuit of knowledge and the debate of ideas." (Source: The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses, Linda Chavez President, Center for Equal Opportunity, and former director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, MenWeb)
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ripped up the Obama administration’s one-sided rules on how colleges and universities handle accusations of sexual assault and misconduct so students would cease being subjected to ugly, unfair kangaroo courts
The beginning of the end for those rotten Obama-instituted politically correct campus kangaroo courts has just happened (and you thought Trump could do no right!): "On Friday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ripped up the Obama administration’s one-sided rules on how colleges and universities handle accusations of sexual assault and misconduct. The rules, imposed in 2011, were so stacked against the accused — usually young men — that dozens of innocent male students were branded as rapists, kicked out of school and robbed of future job opportunities." (Source: The beginning of the end for campus kangaroo courts, Betsy McCaughey, NY Post)
KIRKUS REVIEWS believes Kors and Silverglate are preaching to the choir
"While in many ways a fine and learned study, Kors and Silverglate's hellfire-and-brimstone sermon will likely be heeded only by the saved."—KIRKUS REVIEWS
Campuses are supposed to be about the pursuit of knowledge and the debate of ideas, but debate could offend so it is gone, and knowledge has been replaced by a toxic indoctrination where students are unwillingly spoon-fed political correctness crap
The civil rights problems in universities are problems about which no freedom-loving person can afford to feel complacent. The students and faculty in today's universities are still amazingly confused about the reach and importance of freedom of speech, often imagining that one person's right not to be offended trumps another person's right to think and speak freely. This is tyranny logic, however well disguised. You see why Trump—so wrong about so many things—is absolutely correct about rejecting political correctness and advising others to do likewise? This PC stuff is poison! Do we want fortresses of indoctrination or institutions of learning? We advise everyone to read this book, learn from it, and write your Congressmen and nearby universities pushing to restore freedom on campus and dump PC crap ASAP. See Resistance is Futile!: How the Trump-Hating Left Lost Its Collective Mind.
After each victory by ruling or settlement, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education will target another school in the same circuit—sending a message that unless public colleges obey the law, they will be sued
The author is an officer of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Inc. (FIRE) They are currently suing several universities and winning lawsuits where judges are required to explain to university presidents the facts of constitutional law. "By imposing a real cost for violating First Amendment rights, the Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project intends to reset the incentives that currently push colleges towards censoring student and faculty speech. Lawsuits will be filed against public colleges maintaining unconstitutional speech codes in each federal circuit. After each victory by ruling or settlement, FIRE will target another school in the same circuit—sending a message that unless public colleges obey the law, they will be sued."—FIRE
The University of Chicago’s Academic Freedom Statement guarantees “all members of the University community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn.” Most importantly, it makes clear that “it is not the proper role of the University to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive.”—FIRE
Freedom is not ever free, and we must beware of easy answers that endanger individual liberties and rights. Many students of history can still recall that this is how fascism begins, and then it combusts into a burning ideology, with the simple proclamation of the idea that there's only one correct way to see things (political correctness, Naziism, communism, etc.)
Freedom is not ever free, and we must beware of easy answers that endanger individual liberties and rights. Many students of history can still recall that this is how fascism begins, and then it combusts into a burning ideology, with the simple proclamation of the idea that there's only one correct way to see things. In PC culture, it is fine to disregard constitutional safeguards by shouting down speakers you disagree with. In PC culture, it is fine to force other people to subscribe to your notion of what is true, right, and appropriate. The most effective method of doing this is to ensure no one disagreeing with you can gain a public forum to tell their side. And when this doesn't suffice, one beats down opponents to keep them quiet, or one targets them by arresting them and putting them behind bars to ensure they won't spew their dangerous ideas to infect the rest of the population with a different idea than the one you yourself champion.
When shouting down, harrassment, preempting, and smearing doesn't work, you hire Antifa thugs to beat down those who disagree with you