MODERN academia is founded on the belief that there is no objective reality, especially in moral matters. Therefore, sooner or later it was bound to devolve into brawls, even at colleges with smart, generally law-abiding students.

Peter W. Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, writing at The Federalist, examines the recent riot at Middlebury College during a visit by the author Charles Murray. Wood alleges the college president and faculty encouraged the bullying protestors and have fostered an atmosphere of intolerance:

We have a generation of college students who reframe any idea they disagree with as “hate,” and declare that “Your message is hatred. We cannot tol-er-ate it.”

They need, let’s say, some “rhetorical resilience.” And they need some teachers who are willing to challenge this pernicious form of self-indulgence. Arguments must be listened to. If they are unconvincing, they must be met with better arguments and good evidence. Silencing one’s opponents is what we do in the boxing ring, not the college lecture hall.

Professor, the students are not your friends. They are your students. You owe them your intellectual and moral authority, not your eagerness to win approval.

Administrator, students deserve a college that exemplifies the ideals of an intellectual community—not the dynamics of a political rally.

The foundations of higher education would have to change in order to bring about the sort of civility Wood upholds. It’s too late for that at these institutions, which are places to pick up careers, not places to learn to think.

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