The Shift Away from Elite Universities: A Long-Overdue Change

In the past thirty years, prestigious American universities have participated in economic, political, social, and cultural practices that have frequently been deemed unethical, illegal, and ultimately detrimental to their future.

These actions were taken without fear of accountability.

University administrators seemed to believe that the reputations of institutions like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford were so valuable to the elite power brokers that they could act without restraint.

By the 1970s, nonprofit universities openly abandoned the notion that they were apolitical and nonpartisan.

Instead, they routinely violated significant civil rights laws by considering race, gender, and sexual orientation in biased admission, hiring, and promotion processes.

Graduation ceremonies became explicitly racially and ethnically segregated.

Similar segregation was observed in dormitories and “theme houses.”

The introduction of “safe spaces,” akin to those from the Jim Crow South, created areas on campus designated solely for specific racial groups.

Wealthy international students frequently demonstrated in support of designated terrorist organizations like Hamas.

Free speech, protected by the First Amendment, nearly vanished from elite campuses.

Guest speakers who dared to speak against issues like unrestricted abortion, orthodox views on the Middle East, biological males competing in women’s sports, or diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) ideologies were often shouted down or, at times, physically confronted.

University leaders either disregarded the violations of the Bill of Rights or tacitly sanctioned their unruly students’ attacks on supposed conservatives.

However, in their arrogance, these universities embarked on a series of missteps that may now threaten their existence as they once knew it.

They began to exploit government bodies like the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation by taking anywhere from 30% to 60% of campus grants as “overhead.”

In contrast, they often charged private foundations a much lower 15% fee—as if an indifferent government failed to notice the overcharging.

The push for an expansive student loan program resulted in a staggering portfolio of federally guaranteed loans totaling $1.7 trillion.

Once the federal government guaranteed student loans against default, universities started increasing their tuition and fees far beyond the rate of inflation.

Elite institutions failed to recognize that the more they distorted their curricula with DEI-focused courses, radical environmental agendas, and postmodern theories of race and gender, the less time they had to provide students with their former gold-standard curricula in Western Civilization, history, literature, philosophy, math, and science.

Employers began to take note that these new therapeutic courses were also linked to admissions based on race and gender.

The SAT and ACT tests were temporarily abandoned.

Comparative rankings based on high school GPAs were also dismissed.

As a result, prestigious degrees no longer guaranteed proficiency in writing, speaking, analytical thinking, or numerical competence.

Employers started favoring graduates from state schools where DEI initiatives were less prominent, admissions were more competitive, and education remained rigorous and non-ideological.

Following the events of October 7, 2023, growing antisemitism on campuses became overt and increasingly violent.

Numerous Middle Eastern international students openly supported Hamas terrorists.

The campus Marxist narrative, proclaiming that Jews and Israel oppress white individuals while portraying Palestinians as noble “non-white victims,” led to Jewish students being harassed and physically attacked.

The public, disheartened, observed feeble administrators either sanctioning the antisemitic violence or absurdly denying its existence.

A public reckoning was inevitable.

Now, it has come to pass.

Congress may soon introduce legislation imposing a tax of 15% to 20% on the annual multimillion-dollar earnings from multibillion-dollar endowments.

Future government campus grants will not be allowed to charge overhead fees larger than 15%.

These two changes alone could result in some of the wealthiest institutions losing nearly half a billion dollars annually.

Racially discriminatory DEI programs may lead to a loss of federal funding for institutions.

International student guests who violate U.S. laws or university regulations risk having their visas revoked.

Campuses must comply with the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments of the Bill of Rights or forfeit federal funding.

These proposed reforms enjoy widespread public backing.

For the first time in recent memory, a majority of Americans disapprove of the current state of higher education.

Only 10% of Americans feel that an Ivy League degree equates to being a better worker.

In a nation facing declining birth rates, fewer youths opting for college, and a federal debt of $36 trillion, universities have minimal leverage.

They can revert to their original mission of providing rigorous, meritocratic, and unbiased education, ensure constitutional protections for all on campus, and reduce their bloated administrative structures.

Or they can proceed as they currently are, inviting continued mediocrity, public disfavor, and eventual irrelevance.