If you think that universities are immunized against the “social justice” plague because they’re located in conservative states, well, think again. They’re not. Once “progressive” thinking administrators get their hands on the school — and very few people who climb the academic ladder are not progressive — the contagion is sure to get in.

In today’s Martin Center article, attorney Mark Pulliam gives us Exhibit A, the University of Texas. He writes,

The latest racket in higher education, evident at my alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin, is the disturbing proliferation of ‘social justice’ as a degree program, a course topic, an academic emphasis, and even as a prerequisite in campus job descriptions.

Consider, for example , UT’s Social Justice Institute. Pulliam gives us the flavor of this institute’s contributions:

The Institute hosts monthly programs (the Social Justice Conversation Series) on selected readings related to social justice and diversity. Topics have included “ableism, sexism, religious oppression, ageism, adultism, heterosexism, transgender oppression, racism and classism.” For each session, cohort leaders “help the conversation flow from a social justice perspective.”

That’s isn’t education; it’s propaganda for statism.

Various academic departments have also gotten on the social-justice bandwagon. You won’t be surprised to hear that the English Department has “social justice and community service” curriculum, but you might be shocked to read that the School of Architecture has set up a program “on race, gender, and the American built environment.”

Moreover, it is now a job requirement for many UT administrative positions that applicants have a demonstrated commitment to social justice. Such requirements ensure that the school’s administration will not be tainted by any skeptics who might believe, as Hayek did, that “social justice” is dangerous nonsense.

Pulliam concludes:

In academia, “social justice” is a mere pretense for ideological indoctrination and the exercise of power by the Left. Texas voters and elected officials would not countenance a “Socialism Institute” at UT, or job descriptions that decreed “conservatives need not apply.” Yet by dressing up their radical ideology as “social justice,” the left-wing activists running UT and other institutions are doing precisely the same thing, hiding in plain sight.

What a shame that the taxpayers of Texas have to pay for this.