zeroanthropology | The “views” of the university are a mercantile
fiction, a falsehood designed to mislead the public and to caress donors
and politicians, the kinds of individuals who are apparently empty and
infantile enough to believe that the winning arguments are those that
are advanced in the absence of criticism. What if we taught our students
that the best way to learn is to ignore whatever they do not like to
hear? That is indeed what is being pushed, ironically under the signs of
“tolerance” and “inclusion,” the usual neoliberal claptrap. Thus we
witness the university turned into a mere echo chamber for the
comfortable, a safe space for moneyed elites to flatter themselves,
creating a virtual world of unrivalled ideological purity, contrived
harmony, and eternal hegemony.
Finally, messages from university administrators
along the lines of “this does not represent the views of the
university,” might serve an additional function, but I am just
speculating. This might be a polite way of telling rabid members of the
public to lay off. We heard you, yes it’s all quite disconcerting, and
here is our little statement, now move along. Had universities with
their bloated administrations and overt political leanings not wished to
enhance their public profiles and represent themselves as quasi-media
outlets, they would spare themselves such unnecessary exercises. In the
end, pronouncements about “the views of the university” end up
multiplying the damage to the university, both as a self-inflicted
wounds within the university, and as a sign of intellectual cowardice in
the face of bullies. A university administration that engages in such
conduct has failed its first and most basic function: to administer
university resources in order to facilitate teaching and learning.
