Why civil society needs university leaders to speak up.
“demure” as the word of the year. On college campuses the word of the year, in the wake of the war in Gaza and the campus protests that followed, was “neutrality,” which has a similar vibe. One might think that those who embrace neutrality do so either because they have no strong views, or because they do and are afraid to express them.
It’s one thing to be reminded that “elections have consequences,” but quite another to insist that the best response to the abuse of authority is to be restrained, demure, neutral. For university leaders the exception is their opposition to endowment taxes. On this topic, they’re inclined to be positively
It may seem that asking corporations, universities, and other organizations to “keep their mouths shut” is a conservative position. Far from it. Since the 18century, thinkers associated with conservatism and classical liberalism have emphasized the importance of having an independent civil society, the informal networks in a country that are adjacent to the political sphere. Businesses and schools, libraries and neighborhood associations, are crucial elements of that sector.
Now we face a Trumpian administration intent on demonizing any opposition—either labeling differing views as “crazy,” or attaching labels to them, like “Marxist,” “ideologically corrupt,” or “transgenderist.” This is a classic authoritarian move: create scapegoats and undermine the health of civil society in order to increase the power of the leader and his loyalists.
Corporate and educational leaders must not put on a demure face and stay silent while civil society is undermined by the diktat of executive orders. We must not sacrifice academic freedom and a healthy civil society for the short-term gains of anticipatory compliance.
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