In a recent podcast, Tyler Austin Harper (whose Atlantic article explaining why he quit a tenure-track job was the other big story in academia in recent weeks) described academics as people who have few real convictions, who want to be led, and who are perpetually terrified of mostly everything. This is cowardice at its worst. If they found his views objectionable, they shouldn't have hired him—especially given their "soul-deep" commitment to DEI. This reversal speaks loudly and clearly about Ghent's true values. I would say that I can't believe they would make such an obviously disingenuous decision, but that would be disingenuous.
"The suspension of Cofnas only serves to entrench academic self-censorship and erodes trust in the academy’s ability to reform itself." False. The Cofnas lynching did not erode my trust in the university to police itself, it confirmed my belief that it is systemically (that word!) incapable of reforming itself. A belief that anyone who has been paying attention over the last 20 years or so (and who has a scintilla of intellectual honesty) would agree with.
The short-circuiting of academic freedom, both in the US and in Europe, is far worse than you article suggests.
In a recent podcast, Tyler Austin Harper (whose Atlantic article explaining why he quit a tenure-track job was the other big story in academia in recent weeks) described academics as people who have few real convictions, who want to be led, and who are perpetually terrified of mostly everything. This is cowardice at its worst. If they found his views objectionable, they shouldn't have hired him—especially given their "soul-deep" commitment to DEI. This reversal speaks loudly and clearly about Ghent's true values. I would say that I can't believe they would make such an obviously disingenuous decision, but that would be disingenuous.
"The suspension of Cofnas only serves to entrench academic self-censorship and erodes trust in the academy’s ability to reform itself." False. The Cofnas lynching did not erode my trust in the university to police itself, it confirmed my belief that it is systemically (that word!) incapable of reforming itself. A belief that anyone who has been paying attention over the last 20 years or so (and who has a scintilla of intellectual honesty) would agree with.
The short-circuiting of academic freedom, both in the US and in Europe, is far worse than you article suggests.
This is very scary. There goes civilization as we used to know it.