Silence of the tenured lambs

Key Findings:

The events of October 7 within Israel's Gaza Corridor (delimited by pre-1967 Israeli borders sans “settlements") juxtaposed the malevolence of Hamas against contemporary academic deterioration —  and the former prevailed.

Pro-Palestinian students, perhaps as expected, attributed blame solely to the Israeli regime. This time around, egregious behaviors among students transgressed societal norms. Paragliders (tools of the brutal attack at the Supernova Festival by terrorists who slaughtered 260 individuals) were suddenly heralded as symbols of “resistance."

More significantly concerning is the somewhat equivocal responses of administrators and the conspicuous silence among professors. The transitory nature of student political stances contrasts starkly with the entrenched perversion masked under academic authority.

The author posits that universities should assert the fundamental purpose of education when faced with the celebration of brutality. The need for administrators to unequivocally condemn the massacre and its supporters is emphasized — the author even suggests that the stage had been set for them to utilize such malicious incidents as teachable moments.

However, immense administrative ambivalence is observed — typified by California State University, Long Beach's president's hesitant stance, evading direct condemnation by alluding to the conflict's complexity. Similarly, Harvard University's initial tepid response, labeled as inadequate even by media outlets like The New York Times, elicited a second attempt explicitly condemning the terrorist actions committed by Hamas.

In stark contrast, McGill University's initial response, couched in therapeutic language, obfuscated Hamas's culpability, failing to provide substantial learning opportunities and resorting to offering support resources. The shift toward universities assuming a therapeutic referral role in response to traumatic events was critiqued as deviating from their traditional educational mission.

While administrators grappled with ambiguous responses, a majority of professors remained reticent. Notable was the absence of commentary from departments like gender studies, peace studies, ethics, or humanities, despite the gruesome targeting of women and infants during Hamas's assault. This collective silence, attributed to the prolonged demonization of the Jewish state, illuminated the incapacity of many intellectuals to extend empathy to Israelis amid their enduring plight and the atrocities faced by citizens from various nations.

This phenomenon, named ‘academic decadence’ by the author, traces its genesis to the prioritization of identity politics over actions, and the Marxist dichotomy between the "oppressed" and “oppressors." Academia now seemingly prioritizes students' emotions over truth-seeking and genuine justice, emboldened by the relativism of postmodern culture and its obsession with performative therapy.

The infiltration of academia by "social-justice warriors" utilizing anti-colonial theories, intersectionality, and cancel culture has notably transformed educational spaces into propagandistic platforms which dehumanize Jews by rendering Palestinian aggression valid. Academic stakeholders like parents, donors, and students must pressure universities into returning to their original educational mandate, which fostered critical thinking rather than ideological indoctrination.