'When you ignore the great teachings and traditions of civilization, you have failure'
Bill Bennett: 'It is shameful' that universities have allowed antisemitic protests
Former Education Secretary Bill Bennett reacts to ongoing protests on college campuses and statements from Biden’s education secretary on the unrest.
What is going on at today's universities in terms of the campus protests tells you that we have abandoned the single most important function of higher education.
And that is higher education.
People have forgotten that civilization is not self-executing.
It has to be nurtured, protected and taught.
It has to be emphasized in order to be maintained.
More than 40 years ago, I wrote about what would happen if we neglected the study of civilization, the study of the humanities. I said that when we studied the humanities — when we studied history, philosophy and literature — we understood and developed respect for our democratic processes, for the rule of law, for our institutions of all kinds, for our very foundations.
A demonstrator stands in front of barricades set up to protect an encampment on UCLA's campus on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP/Eugene Garcia)
As human beings, we've inherited the Earth. And as human beings, we've built civilizations.
This is not automatic. It's actually fairly unusual in history.
But today we're seeing the fruits of the failures to teach and explain to our children and to our students what civilization is all about.
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When you ignore the great teachings and traditions, you have failure.
Demystification of the Ivy Leagues
There are further implications for this beyond what we're seeing in front of our eyes.
Maybe what we will have now is the demystification of the Ivy Leagues. These wonderful places, these leading institutions for which families in America would beg, borrow and steal just to be able to put their children through, to pay the tuition, to support them during their college years — the veil is falling away as we speak.
It's not just the administrators of these schools that are failing. It is the faculty as well. Some of them have been standing with the student protesters, with the agitators — outside or otherwise — and joining in on the protests.
Pro-Palestine students demonstrate on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Multiple students were arrested as officers cleared an encampment on the lawn of the campus. (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
In addition to any outside influences, the so-called "outside agitators" consider the role of the "inside agitators" — the faculty that approves the worst of what is offered by these mobs.
We've seen classes canceled, students unable to get into libraries or other facilities, students forced into remote learning, remote test-taking and more.
And I want to know the true numbers of students who are participating in these anti-Israel campus protests, as one count we've seen is that roughly half of them are not members of the colleges. They're not students.
They're outside agitators, pro-Hamas and more, paid for by those of progressive persuasions. It’s important to know who is driving this and who is participating.
‘How about welding?’
After all of this, I think we're going to see more parents and kids say, "Maybe I'll think of welding."
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Given its current state, maybe we don't need higher education.
Maybe parents and families don't need to sacrifice everything they have and sell or remortgage the house, scale down in every way possible, take extra jobs, scrimp and save to pay their kids' tuition and get them through the college years by supporting them.
"We're seeing the fruits of the failures to teach and explain to our children and to our students what civilization is all about," writes Bill Bennett, shown at far right, former secretary of education during the Reagan administration. "When you ignore the great teachings and traditions, you have failure." (Jay Janner/American-Statesman/iStock/Fox News)
My response, by the way, to the White House press secretary's repeated comments about believing in free speech and peaceful protests is this: Please stop. That's not what we're talking about.
We are talking about things that are much more dangerous — things that are reminiscent of what went on before and during World War II.
We are seeing rampant antisemitism, which many people said they'd never again see in their lifetimes, or permit.
"Never again"? "Never, ever again"?
Now here we are.
Pro-Palestine students demonstrate on Columbia University’s campus in New York City on Thursday, April 18, 2024. "There is talk that now, trustee retreats, alumni gatherings and the like are going to be very lightly attended at some of these schools." (Peter Gerber for Fox News Digital)
Why, now or in the future, would any Jewish students want to be on these college campuses?
Why would they choose them?
Why would they apply to these colleges as high school seniors and have their parents write huge checks to these schools, given what's going on?
Freezing of federal funds
Enrollment numbers have already been down.
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And there is talk in some corners that now, trustee retreats, alumni gatherings and the like are going to be very lightly attended at some of these schools.
People don't want to go back to their old alma mater.
The secretary of education — my old job — ought to be freezing federal funding to these institutions right now until further investigations into these schools take place.
The reason the government began giving money to these schools was to advance knowledge — it's an old idea.
Many of them did advance knowledge and are still doing so.
Nobel Prizes have been won. Great books have been written. Many, many students have been educated.
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And sometimes it works.
But the main thing that's not being taught or learned right now is the fragility of civilization.
We hold it most dear — yet we could lose it.
After COVID, many students realized they could live without a college education.
Now, after this big crack in the armor of higher education, it would not surprise me if we see many more students — more families, more parents — realizing that as well.
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William J. Bennett is the former secretary of education and director of the National Office of Drug Control Policy.
