"The Hills" publishes an "opinion piece" by two professors who claim the Left rules academia by fear

"The Hill" is a Democrat-fellating propaganda site masquerading as neutral "newz."  In all the years I've followed it I've never seen an article that didn't totally, fawningly, slobberingly push the policies of the Democrat partei [sic]--until this morning.

Yesterday the Hill published an "opinion piece" by two researchers in psychology at Northwestern University, and I've edited it extensively below.  Their theory is that universities may not be as far Left as they appear.  [Spoiler: they are, but let's see what the psych researchers say]:
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When we wrote recently on student self-censorship, professors from state flagships to the Ivy League wrote to thank us for saying what they couldn't.  They said they disagreed with the leftist policies [the authors didn't actually say "leftist" but wrote "progressive" cuz it sounds better than "leftist"] that have ruled American universities for decades, *but felt they had pretend to agree to keep their jobs.*

Our survey of 1,452 undergrads at Northwestern and the University of Michigan showed that more than 80 percent of students admitted they'd falsely said they agreed with Leftist positions to avoid clashing with a professor.

That was shocking enough, but what was even more surprising were the responses we received *from faculty members,* which show that non-leftist professors *also pretend to agree with the Left,* fearing that disagreeing with the Left on any point could trigger a coordinated campaign to get them fired or demoted.  [Some department heads fire a warning shot by merely removing a professor's "travel budget" for those who stray from Leftist orthodoxy.]

But if both students and faculty are just pretending to agree with the Left's rule, why does every faculty keep supporting the Left? 

Again, fear—of losing professional friends, of official reprisal and professional ruin.

As all dictators know, it doesn't take a majority to enforce fear:  A minority with power can create an llusion of consensus,* which is all it takes to keep a regime in power.  Even if someone in power isn't Leftist, they continue to do what they believe is a powerful mob demands.

If our hypothesis is correct, it's a tragedy, as good people with good ideas have been (and continue to be) fired or discredited for oppposing the mob.

Humans have always relied on group acceptance for survival, and it's long been recognized that adolescents--most of whom lack a strong sense of self--are especially susceptible to peer influence.  The surprise is that so many *adults*--particularly in academia--roll over.

You only get good decisions if those who make the decisions are skilled at weighing opposing arguments.  But universities have shut that door: students are never exposed to any arguments NOT explicitly leftist, so they lack the ability to weigh opposing policies.

In almost all universities a small, zealous minority enforces conformity through intimidation.

That's not merely metaphoric:  In the late 1960s and ‘70s Marxist theory surged on college campuses, spawning terrorist groups like the Weather Underground (originally the Weathermen), which carried out 25 bombings, including at the Pentagon, the State Department, and the U.S. Capitol. Several members later killed police and security personnel.

You might think those who did those bombings and murders would be jailed for life, but in 1991 Northwestern hired the co-founder of the Weather Underground (Bernardine Dohrn) to head its Children and Family Justice Center.  Kathy Boudin, another member who served 23 years in prison for her role in three murders, joined the social work faculty at Columbia University and co-founded its Center for Justice. 

In other words, the Left that ran those institutions rewarded its footsoldiers.

More recently Northwestern hired Mkhaimar Abusada, a Gaza-based professor with ties to Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.  That hire followed pressure stemming from an illegal student encampment, one of many anti-Israel campus demonstrations after Hamas’s massacre of more than 1,200 Israeli civilians (and 47 U.S. citizens) on Oct. 7, 2023.

Universities have put people who support dismantling American institutions into top positions, and they have advanced that agenda with growing success.>>

<<All rational adults know that low-level members of organizations get ahead by doing what those higher in the hierarchy want.  So no one should be surprised that rational students will continue to parrot whatever their professors say they believe.  And as long as professors fear losing their jobs if they disagree with the Left, a tiny few committed leftists will continue to control higher education.

Problem is, there's no way to replace the leftists at the top of almost every university.

The authors don't have any suggestions on how that can be done, and neither do I.  But I think it's fair to conclude that our future as a free society is at stake.

The only surprise here is that the Democrat-fellating rag The Hill would post an opinion piece like the one by the two researchers.

Finally: The piece by the two Northwestern professors had LOTS of soft weasel-words in it, because they're academics and don't wanna be fired.  I can't be fired, so I replaced the bafflegab with more accurate terms.  Any change in meaning is unintended and entirely my fault. 

Source.

https://thehill.com/opinion/education/5470550-fear-is-the-only-thing-keeping-campus-radicalism-afloat/amp/