University presidents need to admit the last five years have been a mistake. It's time to dismantle the corrosive apparatus of DEI
On Tuesday, the presidents of Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) — some of America’s most esteemed institutions of higher learning — attended the U.S. Congress to quell fears that universities had become hotbeds of antisemitism and intolerance. They did anything but.
Pressed repeatedly on whether or not calling for the genocide of Jews constituted harassment or bullying, the presidents equivocated and wriggled. The exchanges are mind-boggling, appalling, terrifying and astoundingly out of touch, even for Ivy League elites.
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In perhaps the most remarkable response, Penn’s president offered that, “If the speech (calling for genocide) turns into conduct it can be harassment.” Genocide, apparently, being the step that must occur before harassment or bullying can be deemed to have occurred. The three-minute exchange is a must-watch, though I advise readers to place something soft on their lap to catch their jaw as it drops to the floor.
In such unbelievable circumstances, it can be helpful to do one’s best to take a step back from immediate outrage and attempt to be as generous as possible to the accused. It is Christmas time, after all. My generosity is somewhat backhanded, however, as it will only further demonstrate the full moral vacuity of universities in North America.
The presidents ultimately argued that speech in and of itself is neither harassment nor bullying. This........