In today’s Martin Center article, Professor Michael Shaughnessy interviews the author of a book that mostly praises our higher ed system. The book is entitled Two Cheers for Higher Education and the author is Professor Steven Brint.

I have to say that I find much to disagree with here. For instance, Brint dismisses the complaint that the education our college students receive is warped by leftist ideology. He says that the percentage of radical faculty is pretty low, but the influence of leftism is not measured by the number of zealots on faculties (even if Brint’s number is correct, which I doubt). Then he goes on to claim that “right wing authoritarianism” is much more of a problem than leftist authoritarianism on campus. That’s mere cant. I don’t like any sort of authoritarianism, but whitewashing the left’s actual authoritarian conduct with a reference to some imaginary right-wing counterpart in society is weak.


Last year, I reviewed Brint’s book on Minding the Campus and was not impressed by it.

But I’m glad that we’ve published Professor Shaughnessy’s interview. Read it. Read some or all of the book. Read my criticism. Make up your own mind.