COLLEGES NOW AND THEN

Emmett Tyrrell, a conservative columnist, is the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of The American Spectator. In today's Townhall.com, his column, "A Victory for Campus Diversity," included his observations of what is happening on college campuses today as compared to the way things were in the 1950s. Here are some excerpts from Tyrrell's Townhall column:

'The life of the mind nowadays is celebrated so rarely in academe. A livelier cultural atmosphere can be found at a Starbucks cafe or health food emporium. On most university campuses, the bulletin boards sulk with notices about "Rape Awareness Week," "Anger Management Counseling," "The Readings of the Prophet Obama."

A half-century ago, things were different. Learning was widespread on campus -- at least among the profs. Free thought was encouraged, even among the profs. In the humanities, there were distinguished professors, at least on the best campuses, where they wrote and taught and often seemed to live the good life. Even the faculty communists were relatively pleasant.

The university at the middle of the 20th century was a happy place, congenial to civilized thought.

Today it is gloomy, populated -- particularly in the humanities -- by narrowly opinionated adepts of identity politics and sham studies: the feminists, the black-studies lecturers and other special interests too esoteric to mention. The prevalence of these irritable sciolists explains why in the nation today there are so few historians of the stature of, say, Arthur M. Schlesinger or Samuel Eliot Morison; political philosophers of the stature of Leo Strauss; or political scientists of the stature of Hans J. Morgenthau.'

I believe that Tyrell has hit the nail right on the head. Once the Vietnam War protests gripped our nations colleges and universities, the curltural atmosphere on campuses began to spin out of control. And that is where we are today, still out of control. Students are subjected to political correctness, identity politics, radical feminism, militant marxism and thought control. Freedom of speech is encouraged, but only for those who agree with the radicals. Students who disagree will be intimidated and may even be disciplined for expressing opposite viewpoints.

When Tyrrell mentioned that "even the faculty communists were relatively pleasant" he wasn't whistling Dixie. That reminded me of my Economics class at the University of Texas right after World War II. The first thing the prof said when he introduced himself was, "I want all of you to know that I am a communist." But the way he taught the course, you would never have known he was a communist had he not mentioned it. He did not castigate capitalism, nor did he ever spew out a shitload of anti-Americanism.

With the prevalence of left-wing radicalism on many of today's campuses, it is no wonder that many of our college graduates are ill prepared to face the realities of life away from the halls of ivy. That is particularly true for those who majored in the social sciences and humanities, today's breeding grounds for educated idiots.