A university president makes a case against cowardice

Which are not things they did.

Does it matter if they did or didn't? Universities have indisputably lost the mandate of heaven, have they not? Arguing over whether they actually did any of those things is irrelevant, if a politically powerful group of people think they did! None of them have an objective definition, so it's going to come down to values, and universities / academics as a class have alienated themselves from a substantial portion of the population.

... or have anti-intellectual media whipped up that resentment as part of their culture war?

Regardless of your stance on affirmative action, it should be very suspicious that all prestigious universities implemented it until it was banned while support in the general population is mixed.

I consider UC's statement of diversity (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/08/us/ucla-dei-statement.htm... and then 6 months later https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/diversity-statements-u...) to be a form of ideology over truth seeking: """Candidates who did not “look outstanding” on diversity, the vice provost at U.C. Davis instructed search committees, could not advance, no matter the quality of their academic research. Credentials and experience would be examined in a later round."""

I'm not sure how that follows. Do elite universities typically track the general population?

> I'm not sure how that follows. Do elite universities typically track the general population?

He's saying that the universities are out of touch with the general population, which is never a good thing.

Was it ever the case they were in touch the with the general population... they are elite after all...