Trustees and alumni group: Left-wing protests are hurting universities funding, enrollment
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Attacks against free speech by liberal universities may be costing them future funds and students, according to Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni is a non-profit organization that advocates for a vast array of higher education issues. Pfeffer Merrill recently told Fox News that a college’s approach to the issue of free speech is actually of great importance, not only to prospective students, but to their parents and to donors as well.

For example, the University of Missouri (Mizzou) and Evergreen State College have both experienced left-wing demonstrations and protests that rocked the campus, as well as social media. As news of these demonstrations hit the internet, it came to light that the left-leaning protests were not only allowed but supported by school administrators.

Now, both schools face plunging enrollment numbers and a drop in funding. In fact, in reference to the protests in 2015 at Mizzou, the New York Times reports the school experienced a 35 percent drop in enrollment numbers over the last two years. The expectation is that this trend will continue at other campuses as well.

“When they look to what college to pick, parents and students are thinking of the largest investment their family is likely to make beyond the purchase of a home,” Pfeffer Merrill said. “Across the political spectrum, one of the most essential assets is [the opportunity] to be exposed to a wide range of views…It’s senior leadership at the colleges that sets the tone.”

The funding and enrollment discrepancy arises when parents and donors perceive that protests have gotten out of hand and the school is not able to control them, experts say. The declines in enrollment and funding are indications of concern that college is no longer considered an educational space to hear a wide variety of ideas, including ideas a student may disagree with.

Sterling Beard, editor of The Leadership Institute’s Campus Reform, told Fox News that Antifa groups now create violence on campus and school administrators can’t control them.

“The lesson is that administrators have to treat their students like the adults that they are,” he said. “Nowadays they treat students with kid gloves.”

The University of Chicago stands as a beacon of hope for those who prize the First Amendment and open discourse on campus. In a 2016, the University of Chicago’s welcome letter to students made it clear that they stand up for free speech.

“Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings,’ we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own,” the welcome letter reads.

The University of Chicago treats its students like adults and encourages open discourse and exposure to ideas that may be controversial. Perhaps other schools should consider Mizzou and Evergreen a warning, and take a leaf out of the University of Chicago’s playbook.

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Source: Red Alert Politics