Morning Update: Bottom Line

The New York Times is sending out a big warning to American universities. What’s happening on college campi is causing a backlash that nobody saw coming.

Scott MacConnell is a 1960 graduate of Amherst University, where he discovered his calling as a theatrical designer. But recent racial protests have soured him on his alma mater.

In a letter to the alumni fund, he said: “As an alumnus of the college, I feel that I have been lied to, patronized, and basically dismissed as an old, white bigot who is insensitive to the needs and feelings of the current college community.” Last year, he reduced his annual support to five dollars. This year, he cut Amherst out of his will.

McConnell isn’t alone. Alumni across the board complain that today’s students are too “wrapped up” in identity politics. They think colleges offer frivolous courses that lead nowhere. They are dismayed that students are hostile to their heroes and traditions. They complain fraternities are under attack and that men are being targeted with sexual assault allegations. They say free speech is being overrun by political correctness. And that university administrators are too afraid to confront protestors,  or the faculty that goads students on.

Bottom line: out-of-control liberalism on college campi is hurting the bottom line.

It’s about time. This might be the only way this stuff gets rectified.