Campus intolerance isn’t new. It’s just finally in the spotlight

The most illuminating stories revealed since the congressional testimony of the presidents of Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania are from the students attending these schools.

Since the
contentious testimony
, there has been a deluge of reactions from students: no longer statistics but real, matriculating students who are navigating campus life. CBS News Philadelphia
shared
perspectives from UPenn Jewish students going on the record to say how disappointed they were after hearing President Liz Magill say that whether calling for the genocide of Jews is harassment is a “context-dependent decision.”

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I find it particularly entertaining that the legacy media are aghast with the “revelation” that these presidents are trying to weasel their way out of saying what is right. This wouldn’t be the first time.

Liberals
dominate universities
. During the 2016-17 school year, 60% of faculty identified as either far Left or liberal, compared to just 12% responding that they were conservative or far Right. What’s striking is that in the same year, only 24% of the public at large identified as liberal, and the liberal-to-conservative faculty ratio had jumped since the 1989-90 survey when 42% of faculty identified as being on the Left and 18% identified as being on the Right. A 2018 survey of about 900 student-facing administrators found that liberals outnumber conservative staff by a ratio of 12-to-1.

The news reports about schools
losing donor dollars
are headline-grabbing, but they are a distraction from what is really at stake: students who don’t feel safe. Who they are and what they believe has put their physical safety at risk. When you add in a school’s leadership fanning the flames and jeopardizing personal safety, it becomes the Wild West. This is where we are today. This is not news to me; it’s just now being heard.

As the president of the Network of Enlightened Women, I have been hearing stories for years from young conservative women who have
felt unsafe
if they make their political beliefs known or if they are “discovered.” I chronicled these stories in You’re Not Alone: The Conservative Woman’s Guide to College to highlight how commonplace this is for students on campus.

One of the leaders of the NeW chapter at Cornell is a Jewish student who fears for her safety. She feels pressure due to her religious beliefs, which “leaves you feeling isolated and unsafe on such a large yet concentrated campus. All students deserve a space within which they can learn without their religious affiliation being held against them.”

In other cases, students have told stories to me about their peers drawing inappropriate images or writing mean messages on their dorm whiteboards. One of our leaders was shocked that her school’s administration did nothing after one of her peers violated the student bylaws by tearing down the group’s flyers for an event, attacking the group on social media, and trying to sabotage the event.

Now that stories of students attacking each other are making the national news, more people can see what is actually happening on campus. Liberal academics are failing to create a safe environment for students with different views. I am grateful, on behalf of all students, that a light is being shown on the intolerance on campus.

Student safety has become the headline of the day. Hopefully, that will result in safer campuses, and not just for those on one side of the aisle.

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Karin A. Lips is the founder and president of the Network of Enlightened Women and a senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum. She is the author of
You’re Not Alone: The Conservative Woman’s Guide to College
. Follow her on Instagram at
@karin.lips
or X at
@klips
.