Alarming numbers of young Americans have been cheated out of their development by their parents and the other adults responsible for teaching them. Now young adults themselves, many are empty vessels and America is going to pay a heavy price.
Last March, Kyle Duncan, a conservative federal judge, was invited to speak at Stanford Law School by a student group. Though Stanford is reputed to be one of the premier law schools in the country, the students are a disgrace to the profession. Many did not want to hear what the judge had to say and were determined to prevent anyone else from hearing him.
The students heckled the judge with vulgar signs and shouting, including “Your daughters should be raped.”
Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Tirien Steinbach, embedded herself in the student audience without introducing herself or her administrative role to the judge. When the heckling got out of hand she stepped to the podium with prepared remarks. Included in the things she said were: “The judge’s presence is painful for some students;” and “I’m so uncomfortable up here.” She added the judge’s work is “abhorrent,” “caused harm” and “literally denies the humanity of people.” With “leadership” like this, it is no surprise that students who are supposed to be learning the art of persuasive argument conduct themselves as they do.
The Dean of the law school responded with a leave of absence for Steinbach (no one is saying whether it is voluntary or disciplinary) and a mandatory half day training for all law students on “freedom of speech and the norms of the legal profession.”
In May, a University of Wisconsin – Madison student posted a vile social media video. She was obviously drunk, made suicidal remarks and ranted about Blacks with a string of racial slurs. She is a disturbed and pathetic individual. Rather than ignore her, UW’s perpetually offended students could not pass on this opportunity to protest. They marched for days and presented Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin with a list of demands and a deadline. They want “academic accommodations,” mental health resources and expulsion of the student. Apparently they are unable to function because of an ugly rant.
Mnookin responded that she is concerned for the harm it caused but is subject to “numerous legal constraints” that prevent her from expelling the student. A real leader would have taken the opportunity to teach.
In early May, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) cancelled a panel on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in medicine and science in response to faculty and student objections. MCW President, John Raymond, rescinded the use of MCW facilities with a convoluted explanation that didn’t satisfy anyone.
The panel, which included Senator Ron Johnson, was an opportunity to debate the very controversial topic of DEI. More than 1,000 students and faculty signed a petition opposing the panel as a platform that is not rooted in evidence and makes learners feel “unsafe”. They also objected to the absence of any “experts” in DEI on the panel. Sherrea Jones, President of MCW’s student assembly, said as a Black woman she found the college’s “willingness to greenlight the panel heartbreaking.” Ron Johnson called the cancellation “unfortunate and indicative of the current lack of freedom and diversity of thought in higher education.”
Last week, Shellyne Rodriguez, an adjunct professor at New York’s Hunter College, confronted students who were distributing pro-life literature by shouting profanities and tossing materials from their table. The reason for her attack? Their materials are “propaganda” and “This is violent. You’re triggering my students.” When a reporter later knocked on her apartment door to request an interview about the confrontation, she answered with a machete and threatened to chop him up. Hunter College fired her after the incident. She has been charged with harassment and menacing.
Strong men and women built our country. They yearned for freedom and were willing to die for it. The ability to master criminal law, pathophysiology, or any other subject in pursuit of a college degree is meaningless without freedom. Young adults from coast to coast demonstrate every day they do not understand that freedom can only thrive when people are willing to tolerate and debate ideas with which they strenuously disagree. They are consumed with their “pain,” “triggers,” feeling “unsafe,” and victimhood. They try to force a culture of conformity and trample individual liberty.
The adults who are responsible for the development of the next generations are utterly failing to teach them what freedom means. Totally unprepared to carry forward the values and principles of liberty, these young Americans are fatally flawed. Unless we reverse this, freedom will not survive.
