OPINION:
Two Ivy League degrees and the distinction of being valedictorian at a pricey preparatory school couldn’t keep an accused killer out of jail. In many ways, it sadly personifies the problems in our country’s education system these days.
The man who is charged with murder in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Officer Brian Thompson graduated from the Gillman School, a costly prekindergarten through 12th grade independent day school in Baltimore. He received undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
Several media reports suggest that the suspect is an ardent anticapitalist, a hate-filled opponent of corporations and private health care and a proponent of climate change alarmism. Seeing support from many on the left for Thompson’s killer and his actions has been outrageous.
As we reflect on the slaying of a 50-year-old father of two, we must also address a deeper issue that affects the very fabric of our society: the dangerous, hate-filled ideologies propagated in schools and universities across the country.
Two students at George Mason University were also recently arrested on suspicion of defacing the student center on campus in August. They are accused of spray-painting a warning of a “student intifada” on campus. Sisters Jena and Noor Chanaa are leaders of the group Students for Justice in Palestine. They are charged with causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage on campus. In Virginia, that is a felony.
A Fairfax County judge granted a warrant to search the Chanaa home. Police found guns, ammunition and foreign passports. They also found Hamas and Hezbollah flags, along with signs that read “Death to America” and “Death to Jews.”
The situation on most college campuses since the COVID-19 pandemic has gone from liberal bias to outright indoctrination. Students are not taught how to think critically, but to hate America and abhor those with views that are not 100% aligned with their left-wing agenda.
Such hatred does not develop in a vacuum. It is cultivated, often in the very institutions where our young people should be learning tolerance for the open exchange of ideas: in the classrooms of our schools and universities.
Students are divided by sex, race and gender. They are divided by income, religious beliefs and political affiliation.
The radicalization is not limited to just students of political science, sociology or even gender studies. The man charged with killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare studied technology. No field is safe from being influenced by extreme, anti-American views.
While many of us are excited about the prospect of major reforms being enacted in our federal government come January, no political change will be effective unless we also reform the education system in America.
We must hold educators and institutions accountable for pushing these dangerous ideologies on our children and grandchildren. We must also protect vulnerable young minds from anti-American narratives and teach them to respect the values that have made our nation great.
No amount of education is valuable if it leads to violence. The man who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump was also a high-achieving student. He was a National Technical Honor Society member and graduated with honors. The rhetoric used against political opponents has to be toned down. We can disagree about issues without inciting people to acts of violence.
If we continue to allow our schools to breed a generation of young people consumed by hate, we are setting up future generations for failure. Too many are ignoring the motto of our nation: E pluribus unum, which is Latin for “out of many, one.” It is time to unite the country around our shared values.
Our nation was founded on the belief that all of us are created equal and that we all have fundamental rights given to us by God, not the government. We should fight for every American, regardless of race, sex, religion or other distinction, to have access to the same freedoms and opportunities passed on to us by prior generations.
This is why I am honored to work as president of Young America’s Foundation. We are training the next generation of leaders in the fight for freedom. We celebrate our travels on the path toward a more perfect nation.
We know that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are rights given to us by our Creator. We must fight to defend these rights for ourselves and all other Americans. And we must not allow extremists on college campuses, in schools, on social media or anywhere else to take away our devotion to these rights.
If we truly want to make America great again, we must start with fundamental reforms in our K-12 schools and on our college campuses. We must teach students the fundamentals: math, reading, writing, science and history. We must also teach them to respect life and liberty for all.
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin.
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