51吃瓜

On March 9, 2023, student protestors invaded the safe space of what must assuredly be a minority group at Stanford University: the law school鈥檚 Federalist Society. Stuart Kyle Duncan, a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, had been invited to speak to a roomful of students, and it did not go well. 

Rowdy protestors joined, and Duncan, as The New York Times reported, 鈥渨as relentlessly heckled and traded barbs with students. He tried to power through his prepared remarks but was unable to speak more than a few words without interruption.鈥� As for the 鈥渢raded鈥� barbs: Among other things, the students yelled 鈥淲e hope your daughters get raped.鈥� The judge called them 鈥渏uvenile idiots鈥� 鈥� not exactly a fair 鈥渢rade.鈥�

Duncan asked for an administrator to restore order, as a and the show, but one of the five administrators present had already decided to cast her lot with the protestors beforehand. Tirien Steinbach, associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Stanford Law School, proceeded to give a tendentious harangue using prepared remarks that asked rhetorically, 鈥淚s the juice worth the squeeze?鈥� This phrase implicitly asked whether Duncan鈥檚 speech at the invitation of Federalist Society students was worth the 鈥渉arm鈥� it caused and the tumult the protestors chose to create. A classic heckler鈥檚 veto.

Never mind that Steinbach spoke for students, yet was not one of them, attended a rally she did not have to attend, was not a member of the group that invited Duncan. I could add that she clearly did not speak for those law school students who wanted to hear what Duncan had to say.

Why did she encourage the protestors rather than simply let everyone have his or her say? Quiet the students, create time for the dissenters and let the band play on. Fomenting the whole thing with a citrus-squeezing metaphor made a hash of the proceedings, and you have to wonder if the privileged students in the room understood her meaning. After all, isn鈥檛 squeezing juice the job of the ?

Liberal campuses are illiberal with conservatives

This kind of thing is nothing new for conservative lawyers speaking at Federalist Society events. In another example of such behavior, Yale students used vulgarities to a speaker on a panel discussing free speech, only to claim quieting the heckler infringed on the protestor鈥檚 free speech. Does it get any more Orwellian? Is it any wonder conservative judges are now they will not hire from for coveted clerkships?

On American university campuses, 鈥淒o as I say, not as I do鈥� has long been the idea of DEI, and woe betide anyone who disagrees. The screaming hordes will label you a racist/sexist/body-shamer and declare that no one should associate with you. It鈥檚 a way of achieving by might what has not been won through effort or argument.

When the subjective standards are that silence is violence, speech is violence, but pronouncing orthodox beliefs that cut off, or even result in count as speech, there are no grounds for reasoned debate beyond how one feels. How one feels is, of course, justification for whatever is demanded and then it鈥檚 just a matter of volume and how many on your side show up to bring the thunder. You know who behaves this way? Children.

Learning how to be an adult, or as some might say, 鈥渁dulting,鈥� is the age-old social justification for college. Yet that鈥檚 not what鈥檚 happening on campuses these days. In watching the protests, child psychology 鈥� not adolescent psychology 鈥� is the most instructive lens. Why is that? There鈥檚 nothing prefrontal cortical about the protests. Universities have turned into infantilizing places where students of a certain political persuasion get to have their cake and eat it too without listening, articulating at less than a shout or disciplining themselves.

I have news for these kiddos: In the real world, you shouldn鈥檛 expect acquiescence and acceptance when you rail at the world and scream at people you don鈥檛 like. You also don鈥檛 get to cry for a teddy bear and safe spaces when someone says something mildly upsetting. Actually, I take that back. You do get to do that 鈥� up until the age of 4, and even then it鈥檚 not a pretty look.

Along those lines, barricading yourself in an administrative building you have 鈥渓iberated鈥� doesn鈥檛 mean you effectively courtesy of the university. Even the media had to laugh at that one. Asking for 鈥渉umanitarian aid鈥� (you have to love the terminology) as you squat in a building where you don鈥檛 belong and that you鈥檙e free to leave at any time is like a child threatening to sit in a Build-A-Bear until a stuffed critter is in the offing. Parents generally don鈥檛 respond to this kind of thing by waltzing to the cash register unless they want to raise an entitled little brat. The protestor鈥檚 approach is more Tricks for Trustfunders than Rules for Radicals, and the rest of the US watches with skepticism and disgust.

God give me one sentence more

Maybe I just gotta get suspended more?

Hashtag it, get mentions for it

Make you love it, get it trending more

鈥� Chance the Rapper, in the movie Juice

These young people don鈥檛 like something, and they will shout and tweet and get suspended and arrested in front of cameras until they get it. They want a cookie (their demands) and a participation trophy (news cameras and friendly ink declaring their bravery). They also to take exams. But something was rotten in the State of Denmark from the get-go, and the stench wafted up to DC. At a hearing before the House of Representatives, Ivy League school presidents (two of whom are now former presidents) were not even before the US Congress whether calling for the genocide of Jews constitutes bullying and harassment. Congress and the public disagreed. Such 鈥渟peech鈥� by mobs setting up tent cities on campuses is defended as free and rightfully given. Such actions misunderstand the First Amendment, but that鈥檚 a discussion for another day. 

In all of this, a question arises: By allowing and thereby tacitly condoning these masked and misbehaving masses at universities, 鈥渋s the juice worth the squeeze鈥� for parents, students, administrators, donors and Democrats (the protestors鈥� principal supporters) in general?

I think we lost them.

鈥� Tupac Shakur, Juice

Protestors are turning most Americans off

The protestors have enjoyed favorable press in certain circles, but their display has most Americans. Among them are many parents who saw their college tuition going to institutions where classes went online, graduation ceremonies were canceled and even exams and grades were drawn into question because of rebellious squatters. Look no further than 鈥渃old open鈥� for the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live 鈥� a program not renowned for its conservative bent 鈥� in which a parent working multiple jobs says 鈥淚 am supportive of y鈥檃ll鈥檚 kids protesting, not my kids. My kids know better.鈥� He goes on to say his daughter 鈥渂etter have her butt in class鈥� for his $68,000 dollars in tuition. His daughter, he assures the other parents, 鈥渁in鈥檛 talkin鈥� 鈥榖out no free this, free that. Cause I tell you what ain鈥檛 free 鈥� Columbia [University].鈥�

The narrative of elites flaunting their privilege in the evergreen warrens of universities, far removed from the day-to-day concerns of working-class stiffs has shifted moderates away from President Joe Biden鈥檚 party. Everyone and their dog knows it鈥檚 not Republicans building these encampments, and the long-running shift of the Democratic base from blue collar workers to suburban elites has come into sharp focus. Liberal indulgence of students at elite universities who shout down others in the name of 鈥渉arm鈥� but claim unmitigated free speech stemming from snowflake victimhood cuts against the grain of 鈥渃hecking your privilege.鈥� Contradiction much?

The revolution will be , but the voters won鈥檛 be persuaded. In fact, the protests to be helping Trump as the narrative of Republican dysfunction in the House gives way to one of Democrat disunity and fecklessness. Yet Democrats are more worried about alienating voters in Michigan than they are about losing moderates in the rest of the country. As for the pro-Palestine arguments made on campus, no less than Hilary Clinton had a few about the 鈥渋gnorance鈥� of the protestors. For this crime, she was cast from the bosom of the online woke.

School presidents and other administrators are also learning a thing or two about the peril of having, in Duncan鈥檚 words, 鈥減risoners now running the asylum.鈥� After the aforementioned congressional hearing about the protests, the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard were both forced out. In the case of Harvard鈥檚 president, accusations of plagiarism and the shock, shock of her suddenly discovered thin academic record made the ousting more palatable to the academic class.

But what about higher education鈥檚 value? Heaven knows students are rethinking it, and Gen Z is already opting for cheaper university diplomas and becoming the 鈥� generation.鈥� Beyond debt aversion, there鈥檚 a of reasons for declining enrollment, and whether it鈥檚 demographics, cost, confidence in the diploma or the reasonably strong economy, there are fewer people going to college.

Cyclical and immutable factors aside, the most damning problem is the loss of faith in the value of a college diploma. Last summer, prior to the protests, Gallup found of the growing disenchantment, reporting that 鈥淎mericans鈥� confidence in higher education has fallen to 36%, sharply lower than in two prior readings in 2015 (57%) and 2018 (48%).鈥� Unsurprisingly, Republicans tend to resent the indoctrination they pay handsomely for, and between 2018 and 2023 鈥渃onfidence once again fell across the board, but Republicans鈥� sank the most 鈥� 20 points to 19%, the lowest of any group.鈥� Just wait until their kids come back wearing the college couture of keffiyehs and sunglasses.

University enrollment is declining in part due to demographics but also as a percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds. Maybe it鈥檚 because the parents and kids are wondering what they get for the money and effort. Few debate whether there鈥檚 a proliferation of useless degrees out there, and the protests have onlookers scratching their heads as to how the students have so much time for lounging in the quad with ornate signs. Don鈥檛 they have papers to write and classes to attend? I guess my question is, what鈥檚 an education worth when elite universities dole out A鈥檚 like Tic Tacs? Harvard and Yale of their students A鈥檚. Grade inflation began in the early 1980s, but now it鈥檚 ridiculous. If you crush the entrance exam, all you have to do is sit back and wait for the fancy diploma and job offers from Wall Street and McKinsey. The educational-industrial machine has turned into a rubber stamp.

Then we have the donors, the Big Kahunas of the postsecondary racket. Ken Griffin is with Harvard and the 鈥渨hiny snowflakes鈥� it produces who are 鈥渓ost in the wilderness of microaggressions, a DEI agenda that seems to have no real end game.鈥� Not to knock the guy while he鈥檚 down, but if giving half a billion dollars to a school doesn鈥檛 improve academic achievement, more dollars are unlikely to change the outcome.

Pardon the pun, but the of billionaire donors to university endowments has been . There are only so many people with pockets deep enough to plunk down checks that even register on these schools鈥� war chests, and they鈥檙e mostly searching for the exit doors. One can argue that endowments in certain places can afford to tell donors to go fly a kite. Would that it were so and that money found its way into the coffers of schools focused on education, not politics, as a profession. Ruth Gottesman a billion dollars to a Bronx school where no ivy springs, but good work is done. That school is named after no less than Albert Einstein 鈥� a Jew.

Posh American universities will do fine but their luster is dimming

Even if Harvard鈥檚 early admissions 17% this year, Ivy League schools will do fine. Applications to elite universities are up; however, how much are employers interested in these kids? Perhaps than you might think. Conservative judges fleeing these graduates are one thing, but a recent Forbes has this to say: 鈥淎mong those in charge of employment decisions, 33% said they are less likely to hire Ivy League graduates than they were five years ago鈥�. Ouch. There鈥檚 no sense in crying over spilled juice, but we definitely need a mop on aisle five.

At JP Morgan, Jamie Diamond wants people who will take responsibility for mistakes. 鈥淒o you take the blame鈥� he asks, 鈥渂ecause very often, it is your fault.鈥� I guess the entitled are out. The House of Morgan wants hungry people, not diplomaed jackanapes.

Lastly, is it worth it to the integrity of student populations? Many of these campus protests were fomented by or succumbed to influences. As solid numbers of unaffiliated people get arrested at campus protests, it鈥檚 becoming clear that outside actors and, possibly, financed the protests for their own reasons. New York City Mayor Eric Adams had no problem it, and the numbers . According to Hizzoner the mayor, nearly 30% of the people arrested at Columbia and 60% of the arrests at City College were unaffiliated with the respective schools. As much as places like NPR would like to call 鈥渙utside agitators” a , 50% of the people arrested in the Big Apple鈥檚 campus protests weren鈥檛 students. The media has been for some of the unaffiliated like Nahla Al-Arian, a woman who is married to a fellah who pled guilty to, and was deported for, aiding a terrorist organization 鈥� but regardless of who they are, aren鈥檛 they outside protestors by any definition? No school affiliation? You鈥檙e clearly not a student protestor, and you鈥檙e getting in the way of students who want to get an education.

Certainly, claiming the police 鈥渃aused鈥� riots and demonstrating an unwillingness even to the atrocities Israel endured at the hand of Hamas on October 7 last year were obtuse at best, while New York鈥檚 Finest to the Ku Klux Klan makes clear diplomas in histrionics are not bound with marketable skills. For Pete鈥檚 sake, even Google it. And taking down Old Glory to fly the is a disturbing education in campus patriotism. University of North Carolina Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts said enough is enough, but the protestors him down sounded nothing so much as crying children. Enough is enough, and shouting, screaming and replacing this country鈥檚 flag with another betrays not only a poor moral compass but misplaced educational priorities.

Days ago, the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance published a striking that shows what it鈥檚 like to be a Jewish student at Harvard. It also reminds readers that Harvard鈥檚 protests began before Israel had even launched a response, effectively making these demonstrations an exercise in cheerleading the massacre of Jews rather than a response to Israel鈥檚 reaction. The groupthink and antipathy against Jews by faculty, speakers and students shows the ivory tower needs to practice what it preaches. Tolerance, empathy, understanding and humanity are the stakes.

The malcontents on campus have rendered a loss to all, aside from the terrorist group Hamas, which found their protests 鈥�,鈥� and as the protestors leave for the summer break, they are also if anything was accomplished. If we judge the protests by outcome, the universities, students, administrators, donors, parents and politicians suffered. As for Tirien Steinbach, the Stanford DEI associate dean, she left Stanford and with it her six-figure salary. One has to wonder if even she is now questioning whether the juice was worth the squeeze.

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.