America’s universities have become useless leftist echo chambers

Another academic year has wrapped up, and another batch of college graduates has walked across the stage to accept diplomas of declining value. Even the graduation ceremonies have lost their historic luster, as only ideologically approved speakers can provide commencement addresses. Any speaker who might bring a serious message is either disinvited or not considered in the first place. 

American sentiment about the value of a college education is in steep decline. Pew Research Center polling indicates seven in 10 Americans believe higher education is “going in the wrong direction.“ And a recent Fox News poll reports nearly two-thirds of respondents believe a college degree is less important to individual success compared to 25 years ago. 

University administrators should use the summer recess to acknowledge what has led to this downturn in public confidence. The market is speaking to the higher education establishment — pricey administrators might descend from their ivory towers to listen.

It should be obvious, for example, that when free speech is stifled, the search for truth necessarily suffers. As Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression chief researcher Sean Stevens reports, “self-censorship remains frequent among many students, and student trust in their school’s administration to defend freedom of speech has declined.”

Obviously, colleges were created to allow for free and open inquiry, but that can’t happen in an environment that has gone off the........

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