Roy Exum
You may remember that in November of 2015, a black activist at the University of Missouri ignited a widely-publicized “Black Lives Matter” riot in Columbia and that 32 football players refused to practice in the embarrassing spectacle. A white female faculty member screamed profanities at police officers and called for student “muscle,” if you’ll recall, to attack some student journalists. The liberal types had a raucously good time.
Well, guess what happened? Over the weekend it was announced 307 jobs are being eliminated at the University of Missouri because freshman enrollment is down 35 percent. This fall UM will have its smallest incoming class of freshmen in the last 20 years; about 2,000 less than enrolled in 2015 before the riot. Overall campus-wide enrollment has fallen 7 percent. That equates to $16.6 million in lost revenues. The university system in the state must trim $100 million from the budget.
The politically-correct reason for the catastrophic state of affairs at Mizzou is “public perception concerns” but the real reason is because the left-leaning educators allowed the inmates to take over the insane asylum. It will be years before Missouri will overcome what was allowed to occur because the parents who send their children to college have the choice of sending their children elsewhere.
"There are perhaps families who are in Missouri and beyond Missouri who believe that the events of the fall of 2015 were much more serious than they were," Mun Y. Choi, the school president, was quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education. "There was a sense that it was a campus that was in turmoil. That’s not true."
Richard Hesel, who consults with universities on management issues, doesn’t quite see it that way. "What are you going to do — deny that these things happened? They don’t have an image problem. They have a reality problem."
Missouri Governor Eric Greitens is still steamed over what has been allowed to happen. “Missouri needs Mizzou and our universities to succeed. For that to happen, strong leaders will have to make hard decisions.
“The University of Missouri has lacked strong leadership for far too long. That leadership vacuum has created a crisis,” the tight-lipped governor said. “Since the fall of 2015, the University of Missouri-Columbia freshman class has shrunk by over one-third. This is the worst enrollment performance of any flagship university in the country. That cannot continue.”
But there is a bigger picture developing. The Wisconsin legislature is moving forward with a bill that decrees any student protester who disrupts a speaker will be suspended for a semester on the first offense and expelled on the second. Conservative columnist Ben Shapiro was shouted down in Madison back in November and, in a country where free speech is a foundation, watch for other states to do the same thing.
One Wisconsin lawmaker, Rep. Travis Tranel, said he had several college students tell him they were afraid to present conservative views out of fear a liberal professor would dock their grades. That is hardly education.
Must we legislate the ability to speak civilly? Secretary of Defensive James Mattis was interviewed before he gave the Commencement address at West Point and he told John Dickerson of CBS that he feels one of the biggest challenges facing America today is its lack of unity. Here’s what he said:
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“Well, you know, I'm at West Point-- is where we're talking together, John. And you -- you look at these young people who graduated today, over 900 of them from all walks of life. Every religion probably in America is represented. Every state is represented. And these people come together with an enthusiasm for protecting this experiment in democracy that we call America.
“And it takes people, I believe, with a fundamental respect for one another, with a fundamental friendliness toward one another that I worry is starting to slip away in our country. We still have it in the military. It's a diverse force, it's a force that can work together under the worst conditions.
“I just hope we can find our way back to engaging with one another, arguing strongly with one another, and then going down and having a root beer together or something and having a good laugh about it as we work together for the best interests of the next generation of Americans who are going to inherit this country.”
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But look at what is happening as the liberals continue their rant. Over 100 graduates at Notre Dame walked out as the Vice President of the United States stood to speak. At the birthplace of free speech – Cal Berkley – Ann Coulter had to cancel her talk. At Bethune-Cookman, some more who were receiving college degrees booed Betsy Devos and turned their backs.
Did you see where “the timids” at Cal-Santa Cruz caved in to demands issued by members of the African/Black Student Alliance following a three-day "sit in" at the administration building? The alliance demanded housing for "all students from under-represented communities," the creation of a lounge in the Rosa Parks House painted in the colors of "pan-African liberation" and that all incoming freshmen must submit to "educational diversity orientation."
Is this the education you would hope our next generation must learn?
My goodness, last month at the University of Michigan some students stepped forward to boldly demand the removal of the wood paneling from the student union building. It seems some minority students feel “marginalized by quiet, imposing masculine paneling."
Believe this, America’s patience with the snowflakes is wearing thin. It is time for everybody to be friends again.
royexum@aol.com