American higher education is in deep trouble. In the aftermath of the October 7th massacre by the terrorist group Hamas of over 1,000 Israelis, mostly civilians, much of the civilized world recoiled in horror. But on U.S. university campuses across the country, large demonstrations took place of students and professors supporting Hamas. In too many cases, the crowds chanted a sentiment right out of the pit of hell: "Kill the Jews!" Notice, not "Kill the Israelis," but "Kill the Jews" — all Jews.
That chant supporting genocide was an echo of Berlin in 1937 or Tehran today. Now it is echoing off the ivied walls of Harvard, Columbia and Cornell, among the most prestigious schools in America. Rather than condemning Hamas' murder of babies in their cribs, along with Holocaust survivors in nursing homes and younger Israelis at a "dance for peace," these so-called elite academians merely issued shallow statements bemoaning the "violence in the Middle East."
For example, Vanderbilt University Chancelor Daniel Diermeier expressed heartbreak over violence in the region, but then cautioned about "the deeply layered and nuanced complexity" of what happened. That statement is disgusting. There is nothing nuanced or complex about the intentional massacre of women and children.
America's universities brag about their diversity, but ideologically they are firmly in the hands of the political and secular left. Professors are overwhelmingly political leftists. Many of them are outright Marxists. Conservative speakers are seldom allowed on campus and, when they are, the threat of violence by leftist students looms so large that massive extra security is necessary.
Many campuses have constructed elaborate systems of penalties and intimidation to punish "micro-aggressions" by conservative students or the rare conservative professor. Saying that men can't become women or that life begins at conception can subject the offending student to a variety of punishments. Apparently, calling for a second Holocaust doesn't qualify as a micro-aggression.
In the current crisis, left-wing students and professors are making common cause with Palestinian students and others who hate Israel, as well as America.
The radical group Students for Justice in Palestine is on nearly 300 campuses. This extremist group often spews hatred for Israel and America.
The curriculum at many of America's universities often presents a neo-Marxist critique of the U.S. One study actually showed that Harvard students knew less about American history when they graduated than when they were freshmen. Polling shows that college-educated young Americans have the lowest levels of patriotism and love for America than any other demographic.
The United States is a unique experiment built on the idea of ordered liberty under God. Today, we live in an increasingly dangerous world. Our schools too often fail to turn out students prepared or desiring to defend Western Judeo-Christian civilization. Universities that won't condemn chants demanding a second Holocaust have leaders who are moral cowards.
JDFI urges alumni from these universities to contact the schools' administrators and hold them accountable for their blatant disregard of identifying evil for what it is. Do not send your children to these educators to be indoctrinated with poisonous ideas. Pray that moral clarity will return to America's institutions of higher learning.