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J.K. Lund's avatar

Thomas, my working theory is that the leftward tilt of the academic system, at least in the US, is partly driven by the proliferation of govt-funded student loans. These loans place all risk on the students and enable universities to spend big. As a consequence, many universities have expanded their bureaucracies and leadership while the private sector went the opposition direction.

Many of the hires made at universities were made on the basis of "diversity," thus, the entire academic leadership structure benefits from the status quo, a leftward tilt and viewpoint.

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Timothy Pitt-Payne's avatar

Thanks for this. I am enjoying your Substack. I wanted to share two references that might be of interest to you and your readers.

One is a link to a new group campaigning on issues of academic freedom in the UK:

https://afcomm.org.uk/who-we-are/

The other is a link to a lengthy but very interesting article about the experience of a Harvard Public Health academic who was subjected to a lengthy ordeal (falling short of formal disciplinary action) for public expression of conservative views:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590113323000226

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