Most college presidents ‘spineless cowards’ — that must change: conservative legal expert
College Fix Staff
June 19, 2025
Ilya Shapiro, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of “Lawless: The Miseducation of America’s Elites,” recently explained in a speech at Washington University School of Law why campus leaders must grow a backbone to improve higher education.
“Wherever leaders stand up for the core mission of any academic institution, the mob disperses. … But most presidents and deans … are spineless cowards. They’re not woke radicals, that is not my point. They’re careerists who have been successful in climbing that greasy bureaucratic pole, responding to the matrix of incentives that they face, cost benefits, and they’re unwilling … to confront the illiberal inmates who have taken over their institutions.”
“…Educational leaders have to instill a culture of respect for opposing views and model civil discourse and enforce policies against disruptions of educational programs. That means dismantling DEI bureaucracies that undermine classical liberal values and ending loyalty oaths and ideological litmus tests in the form of diversity statements.”
https://www.thecollegefix.com/most-college-presidents-spineless-cowards-that-must-change-conservative-legal-expert/
