Universities hemorrhage public trust by folding to the mob
Georgetown University Law Center's commencement speaker withdrew after backlash over his views on Israel and Hamas. This incident highlights a growing trend of diminishing public trust in elite universities, as they struggle to balance free speech with campus activism. The situation reflects a broader crisis in higher education, where institutions are increasingly seen as failing to uphold their core mission of fostering open debate and diverse perspectives.
- ▪Morton Schapiro, former Northwestern University President, withdrew from Georgetown's commencement due to backlash over his opinions on Israel.
- ▪The incident is part of a larger trend of eroding public trust in elite universities, particularly after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.
- ▪Congressional hearings have highlighted the failure of university leaders to address campus antisemitism and maintain order.
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On May 6, Georgetown University Law Center announced that former Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro, its 2026 commencement speaker, had withdrawn from the ceremony. His apparent offense: writing opinion essays defending Israel and criticizing higher education’s response to the Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. After a student petition labeled his views “controversial, Zionist, and harmful,” Schapiro chose to pull out lest he “distract from the day’s festivities.” Recommended Stories Trump’s two-front fight to lower drug prices is already working Climate doomsday: UN pumps brakes on alarmism, but harm has already been done Supreme Court ends racial stereotype gerrymandering That this happened at a law school, an institution whose graduates make their living…
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