While this draws from mostly right-leaning concerns about higher education[0] despite claiming itself more open, I get the sentiment.<p>However, costs usually rank higher among concerns but they are not addressed that much in the article. I’d be interested to see how that will be addressed. New school might spend less on amenities and focus on accreditation, but professors still need to be paid competitively to attract and retain talent, and they will have to fight the uphill battle of falling state support[1].<p>[0]: <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/08/19/the-growing-partisan-divide-in-views-of-higher-education-2/" rel="nofollow">https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/08/19/the-gro...</a>
[1]: <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/most-americans-dont-realize-state-funding-for-higher-ed-fell-by-billions" rel="nofollow">https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/most-americans-dont-r...</a>
There's a difference between supporting beliefs that differ from the mainstream and supporting people's freedom to form their own beliefs, and the second of these is <i>much</i> harder. One can't help but wonder how tolerant this crew will be of faculty or students who depart from <i>their</i> opinions.<p>It might be worth noting that the biggest affront against academic freedom recently has <i>not</i> been from the supposedly ubiquitous leftist conspiracy but professors in Florida being blocked from testifying as expert witnesses on a voting-rights case, because the facts don't suit the decidedly non-leftist establishment there.
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/03/08/the-nyts-bari-weiss-falsely-denies-her-years-of-attacks-on-the-academic-freedom-of-arab-scholars-who-criticize-israel/" rel="nofollow">https://theintercept.com/2018/03/08/the-nyts-bari-weiss-fals...</a><p>Give me a break.
From what I’ve passively observed about Bari Weiss, she’s all over the map. I’m also inclined to allow people to be young and change their minds and grow into their real values or beliefs without holding their feet to the fire about anything they’ve ever said.<p>Even at my most charitable, though, I’m skeptical of anyone talking about pursuing truth. It’s interesting they mention Plato. What I gleaned from The Republic at a young age, and I still believe, is that the nature of truth is tricky, truth is elusive. I’ve seen that pinning down a consensus on truth is practically impossible even when everyone is coming from a position of good faith.<p>There is definitely a problem with universities, and a big part of our population at large, that abandons free speech and thought.
Delivering on “antifragile” isn’t a bad idea. A student body that finds itself traumatized by utterances of others won’t hold up well to the real world that is full of conflict and unpleasant reality.
I'm attracted to the notion of discussing the undiscussable, but how many times will they allow open discussion about "The Holocaust was a Hoax!", "The Earth is Flat!", and similar quackery?<p>If they are searching for truth, what shoulders will they stand on or will they start from the very beginnings? What will count as truth, and whose word will count? Will everyone need to fly into space to realize the world is round? Or, will one person landing on the moon prove it can be done and was done?<p>Or, do they hope enough quacks will be convinced of accepted truths to put an end to all the nonsense? Maybe they'll discuss more interesting, nuanced topics which would be interesting to me as an observer.
Why is academic freedom seen as political balance when conservatives discuss it?<p>Perhaps I'm unaware of liberals using the same approach.<p>I view academic freedom as the freedom to look into questions or hold alternate viewpoints that are supportable. Regardless of affiliation, IMO political beliefs aren't typically data driven, and when the data goes the wrong way people tend to exercise apologetics instead of intellectual honesty.
I fear this will create another echo chamber, of students having controversial opinions on certain topics such as gender studies, evolutionary psychology etc. Also a stigma with going to this university might be too strong. Imagine being a young male student and telling people at the party you are attending this university. I am pretty sure in the future it would be like telling people you vote for Donald Trump.<p>If I were to choose university in the USA I would select one from the FIRE list [0] that are certified pro-freedom of speech / research but don't have such a big stigma. University of Chicago might be good, altough I am not based in USA so I don't know if there is stigma I'm describing connected to UoC<p>[0] <a href="https://rankings.thefire.org/rank" rel="nofollow">https://rankings.thefire.org/rank</a>
> Universities are the places where society does its thinking, where the habits and mores of our citizens are shaped.<p>This sounds a lot more like a hypothetical ideal than a statement of fact.