Ask Dr. E: Are America’s most prestigious colleges and universities lost?

OPINION:

Dear Dr. E, I recently read one of your opinion pieces where you shared a perspective that I found quite different from my own. You cautioned parents against sending their children to some of our nation’s most prestigious colleges and universities, suggesting that these institutions have become reeducation camps for liberal indoctrination. While I respect your viewpoint, my personal experience with higher education and that of my kids hasn’t been as negative as you suggest. I’m curious to know: do you think there might be a possibility that you’re being a bit of an alarmist? — HAPPY WITH MY ALMA MATER FROM NORMAN, OKLAHOMA  

Dear Happy: To answer your question, we first need to vet the ontological and epistemological assumptions of virtually every college and university within today’s academy. In other words, we need to step beyond our own personal anecdotes and ask: What are the school’s assumptions about reality (i.e., ontology), and what are the same institution’s assumptions about what can be known (epistemology)? By looking at this bigger picture, we can learn a lot about what actually guides a university’s mission, tenure priorities, research emphases, publication strategies, and pedagogical practices. 

Research has repeatedly shown that nearly all of today’s universities fall unabashedly within a postmodern paradigm, both ontologically and epistemologically. This is to say that the faculty and administration of almost all of our nation’s schools believe that truth (with a lowercase t) is constructed rather than revealed. They believe that all knowledge is relative and, thus, subject to individual interpretation. They argue that all who trust in the existence of objective Truths (with a capital T) are either hopelessly ensconced in European empiricism or sadly deluded by the black-and-white buffoonery of the Religious Right. In other words, the leaders of today’s universities sincerely believe their charge is to elevate subjective opinions over and above any of the backwoods ideas that conservatives argue are objectively true, right, and real. 

For a couple of good sources on this issue of ideological constructivism and its corresponding aversion to a robust, open, and “liberal” debate on the nature of truth, knowledge, and reality, see David Horowitz’s “One Party Classroom” and his other, similar work “Indoctrinate U: The Left’s War Against Academic Freedom.” And please note before you dismiss Mr. Horowitz as some right-wing crank, remember that he was once the intellectual engine behind the 1960s radical Left and that he wrote for and supported the likes of the Black Panthers, Tom Hayden, and others. Read his autobiography, “Left Illusions,” and you will see that this guy knows from whence he speaks. 

I’d also encourage you to go to Jim Nelson Black’s white paper entitled “I Will Not Be Silent” or to Black’s corresponding book, “The Freefall of the American University.” And if you still need more convincing that something is terribly amiss in the academy, just consider the University of Michigan Course Catalogue, in which they openly admit that a class entitled Ethics of Corporate Management is “not concerned with the personal moral issues of honesty and truthfulness” because it is assumed that all students attending the U of M had already “formed their own standards on these issues.” Here you see the poster child of my point. One of the premier academic institutions in our land is actually boasting that “honesty and truthfulness” are relative constructs subject to the whim of the individual. Is it any wonder graduates of such schools now serving as executives in Fortune 500 companies or as leaders in our halls of Congress are liars, cheats, and crooks? 

So, to answer your question: Yes, I am claiming that today’s universities are hopelessly muddled in a swamp of opinions, where the guy with the loudest voice, the most obnoxious attitude, or the most prestigious diploma wins the day and controls the debate regardless of the veracity of his claims or the virtue he demonstrates in his life.

While we all may have some very positive stories to share about our alma mater, it’s crucial that we recognize things have changed. With this recognition, we must then challenge ourselves to look beyond our subjective experiences and critically evaluate the governing ethos and intellectual paradigms shaping today’s curriculum. After all, ideas have consequences, and we are foolish to pretend that there will be no negative consequences of telling one generation after another that truthfulness and honesty really don’t matter when it comes to the study of corporate and cultural ethics. Centuries of biblical wisdom teach us that when any society becomes so disdainful of the objective nature of truth that everyone digresses to “doing what is right in their own eyes,” that judgment is not far off, and God’s correction is at hand. 

If you are seeking guidance in today’s changing world, Higher Ground is there for you. Everett Piper, a Ph.D. and a former university president and radio host, takes your questions in his weekly ’Ask Dr. E’ column. If you have moral or ethical questions for which you’d like an answer, please email askeverett@washingtontimes.com and he may include it in a future column.