OK, I promise that this blog will not turn into “I Make Jokes About the University of Austin All the Goddamn Time”. Probably. But, hey, this is funny:
Exactly a week after former New York Times opinion columnist Bari Weiss unveiled the creation of a hypothetical new “university” stacked with advisers united by “a common dismay at the state of academic and a recognition that we can no longer wait for the cavalry,” two riders in that brave regiment have resigned their commissions.
Robert J. Zimmer, the chancellor of the University of Chicago, and Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, quit the University of Austin’s advisory board on Monday.
OK, that zinger, launched a bit unsportingly at the head of, well, former New York Times opinion columnist Bari Weiss by Daily Beast Breaking News Intern AJ McDougal, who may have thought that she should have gotten Bari’s old job, was a bit unsporting, but the fact is, two of the heaviest hitters on the UATX team have decided to call it a day, after, well, one week.
Dan Drezner, whom I had earlier observed snickering at what he predicted would be a monumental clash of egos, has another take, both funny and accurate, pointing out that these guys really don’t know how to run a university. Still, Dan also acknowledges, upfront, that these complainers are, you know, largely right about the level of intellectual harassment and oppression at today’s campuses. For a gruesome example, read, courtesy of David Lat’s Original Jurisdiction, what can happen to a cis/het white man at Yale Law School for, you know, acting like a damn cis/het white man! For another gruesome example, Dave also tells you what happens (allegedly) to persons of color at Yale Law School who don’t behave like persons of color are expected to behave. (Both links courtesy Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy). And if you thought you could escape the Thought Police by listening to music, the National Review’s Jay Nordlinger can give you an earful, or two, on the error of your ways. UATX may well crash and burn. But a few other things are as well.
