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A university president makes a case against cowardice

(www.newyorker.com)
450 points pseudolus | 2 comments | 03 Apr 25 12:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.43s | source
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sequoia ◴[03 Apr 25 13:52 UTC] No.43569673[source]▶
A lot of Americans support these attacks on universities. Why do people harbour this much animosity towards these institutions? Is there anything they could have done differently in the past decade or two to have broader sympathy now, or is people's ambivalence towards elite universities 100% irrational?
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guywithahat ◴[03 Apr 25 20:58 UTC] No.43575315[source]▶
> attacks on universities

This really feels like bad phrasing, when people read that they roll their eyes. Basically every major republican politician went to college, nobody is attacking universities, they're trying to help the students.

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watwut ◴[03 Apr 25 21:11 UTC] No.43575475[source]▶
Yes they went to universities. No, they are not trying to help the students. They don't even pretend to be trying to do so. They are nit trying to make it cheaper and they are not trying to make it more accessible.

They agenda was either openly the opposite or they ignored the students. Except when they think they are too progressive and attack then verbally.

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guywithahat ◴[03 Apr 25 21:20 UTC] No.43575583[source]▶
I mean, at a minimum, they think they're helping students. Nobody would vote for a politician who just makes things worse, that doesn't make sense.

In this case, they're trying to make universities more fair and to reduce government waste in universities by removing DEI programs. There's lots of logic to that.

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1. Izikiel43 ◴[04 Apr 25 00:01 UTC] No.43576911[source]▶
>Nobody would vote for a politician who just makes things worse

Why not? One thing is the campaign, another one is exercising his power. To quote a famous Argentinian President: "If I said what I would do, they wouldn't have voted for me".

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2. guywithahat ◴[04 Apr 25 17:24 UTC] No.43585383[source]▶
I can't find the source of that quote (possibly a misquote?), but if I had to guess, he's saying he sold people on the problem, knowing they wouldn't like the solution. Everyone likes the idea of fixing the budget deficit, and some people like the idea of cutting wasteful government spending, but the act of fixing the budget means people lose jobs, and lives are destroyed. Even though it has to happen, people don't like watching it happen.

I don't think your "quote" says what you think it says.