It’s no secret that American universities are steadily shifting toward the political left with no end in sight. Conservatives cringe at the massive budgets allotted to the payment of diversity, equity and inclusion staff, the rise of women’s and gender studies programs and the alleged omnipresence of critical race theory on college campuses, all gathered under conservatives’ favorite umbrella term, “indoctrination.”
It certainly isn’t an easy time to be a conservative college student; I speak from experience. At my University of Virginia, I’ve heard professors make fun of conservative viewpoints during class and seen an event featuring author and journalist Abigail Shrier hijacked by dozens of fake sign-ups from dissenters, preventing interested students from attending. Shrier had to be escorted to and from the building because of concerns for her physical safety thanks to aggressive protesters outside the event.
In its 2024 College Free Speech Rankings, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression gathered some concerning statistics regarding tolerance of conservative viewpoints. For example, 37% of conservative students reported “feeling pressure to avoid discussing controversial topics,” as opposed to only 19% of liberal students. Likewise, 38% of conservative students said they were “more likely to self-censor on campus now – at the time they were surveyed – than they were when they started college,” with only 20% of liberal students…
