The New York Times has a new opinion essay up today. But this one is different from the usual fare. Because this particular essay was written by Adam Hoffman, a senior at Princeton University and — gasp! — a conservative.
The crux of Hoffman’s argument is that colleges and universities by and large have become such hotbeds of progressivism and leftism that they’re actually pushing conservative-leaning students further to the Right. Many conservative students, faced with open hostility from progressive students and faculty, are deciding that they’ve had enough and are ready to fight back.
Today’s campus conservatives embrace a less moderate, complacent and institutional approach to politics. Instead of belief in the status quo, many tend toward scorched-earth politics. But these changes aren’t solely the consequence of a fractured national politics.
They’re also the result of puritanically progressive campuses that alienate conservative students from their liberal peers and college as a whole. The distrust of authority, the protest and the disobedience that have characterized the left’s activism over the past half-century or so have arrived on the right. The American universities that once served as moderating finishing schools have become breeding grounds for conservative firebrands.
…
For those on the right, the experience is alienating.The typical American’s views on gender ideology or American history are often irrelevant to his or her day-to-day life. But for the conservative college student, life is punctuated by political checkpoints. Classes may begin with requests for “preferred pronouns” or “land acknowledgments.” A student who jokes about the wrong subject might face social punishment. All students should welcome challenges to their most cherished beliefs, but from what I’ve seen on campus, students are not invited to debate; they are expected to conform.
And those who challenge liberal pieties can face real repercussions. Because a Princeton student defended an unpopular opinion about policing in a private conversation, she was pushed out of her leadership position on a sports team. At Stanford, students who experience “harm” because of “who they are and how they show up in the world” can anonymously report classmates to the university, a policy that some faculty members say threatens free speech.
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It’s genuinely refreshing to read Hoffman’s perspective in a consistently liberal outlet like the New York Times. But for some progressives, it’s not so much refreshing as it is annoying. Outrageous and wrong, even.
the @nytimes are bad actors who don't deserve your money
— Edward Branley @[email protected] (@YatPundit) March 1, 2023
Check out this thread from A.J. Bauer, an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the University of Alabama and researcher of “conservative news,” whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean:
Find you someone who loves you as much as the New York Times loves conservative students at Ivy League colleges. pic.twitter.com/0VlLbXBIgw
— A.J. Bauer (@ajbauer) March 1, 2023
Shit forgot the ALT: NYT Opinion guest essay headline, “My Liberal Campus Is Pushing Freethinkers to the Right.”
— A.J. Bauer (@ajbauer) March 1, 2023
Princeton, in case you were wondering.
— A.J. Bauer (@ajbauer) March 1, 2023
Hey @nytimes — my conservative university is mostly reproducing conservative students and the state is about to pass a law to stop us from teaching about “divisive concepts” like race, gender, and sexuality. You’ll love it here come visit!
— A.J. Bauer (@ajbauer) March 1, 2023
I’m a researcher of right-wing media based at a large public university in the Deep South. Give a follow if you are interested in that perspective?
— A.J. Bauer (@ajbauer) March 1, 2023
Because if there’s one thing media are missing, it’s perspectives from progressive college professors.
Literally the most over-represented group of people in America, in terms of their size vs. influence. https://t.co/V0fSYiYFZN
— Ben Yelin (@byelin) March 1, 2023
Guys, they’re genuinely angry about this.
Again, there are SO MANY OTHER ARTICLES to write about higher ed that don't involve selfish rich kids on the east coast. https://t.co/mYgoouVhPY
— Kapusta Diamond (@KapustaDiamond) March 1, 2023
Sometimes, when an editorial staff and a narrative love each other very much, they decide bring a whole new opinion columnist into the world https://t.co/qGqpcs7Kos
— Ted McCormick (@mccormick_ted) March 1, 2023
DoN’t ThEy KnOw ThAt SoMe PeOpLe ShOuLdN’t Be aLLoWeD tO hAvE oPiNiOnS???
and yet and also in that same paper of record these students are afraid to speak. https://t.co/2U5BatWOWV pic.twitter.com/rGlKk2yazq
— #PettyPendergrass (@ashoncrawley) March 1, 2023
Actually, Hoffman’s piece isn’t contradictory to the one from March 2022. He even notes that many conservative students have said they had to self-censor on campus. Hoffman’s piece is about some conservative students who are getting tired of self-censoring. So if that tweet was supposed to be an own, it didn’t work.
https://twitter.com/ConserveChange/status/1630933293511090181
“Liberal campuses with woke trans and non-binary students are FORCING us free thinkers to become extremely, extremely right wing, it is totes their fault!”
This is a recurring take in the NYT 😢 https://t.co/8McwB3FWU2
— Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH (@GYamey) March 1, 2023
Narrator: No it isn’t.
This is the most boring and unoriginal stance, as well: "I was told someone's pronouns and as a consequence I became a reactionary, hate-filled, angry Proud B*y" https://t.co/pyP9UCfA9S
— Aparna Nair (@DisabilityStor1) March 1, 2023
“I wouldn’t be a racist if they’d just let me say the slurs!” https://t.co/O0aprBgwOF
— The Midnight Rocker (@chadstanton) March 1, 2023
Nice of these jerks to help reinforce Hoffman’s point that progressives think they’re the only ones whose opinions should count.
Do you have any thoughts on the increasing illiberalism coming from the far left and it’s impact on how students who aren’t ideologically radical might tailor their world views? Or would you rather just pout?
— Dedalus (@rawlsdog1) March 1, 2023
Pout. They’d definitely rather pout.
It’s absolutely true that overly politically correct and policed campuses are pushing students to the right. And the fact that the far left screams murder everytime the left leaning NYT publishes any conservative opinion is as concerning as it is unproductive.
— Milo Young (@myhumbleopinio6) March 1, 2023
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