The NYPD’s move to remove pro-Hamas occupiers from New York University on Monday night was met with resistance from professors who formed a human chain to block the cops. This incident reflects a deeper issue in American academia, where tenured radicals have come to dominate elite institutions. A 2022 Harvard Crimson survey found that 45% of faculty self-identified as “very liberal,” while a 2017 survey of top schools found that registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a margin of 11.5 to one among tenure-track faculty. This dominance has resulted in a “monoculture” where dissenting views are often marginalized or punished. Tenured faculty who challenge the left-leaning orthodoxy have faced consequences, as seen in the cases of Princeton ex-prof Joshua Katz and Harvard exile Roland Fryer. Georgetown Law School forced out new hire Ilya Shapiro for a tweet criticizing President Biden’s race- and gender-based criteria for selecting a Supreme Court nominee. In the face of this left-leaning dominance, non-radical professors often remain silent, fearing retribution. University presidents have largely ignored the issue, focusing instead on fundraising. The NYU incident, along with the rise of anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism or criticism of Israel, has prompted donors like Columbia alum Robert Kraft and Harvard’s Bill Ackman to go on strike, demanding that universities address the problem and restore balance to their campuses.
NYU Protests: A Deeper Issue in American Academia
