AMAC Excluisve – By – David P. Deavel
Georgetown’s recent suspension of Ilya Shapiro, incoming director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, for tweets about President Biden’s promise to look only at black women for a replacement of retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, has provoked a great deal of controversy about “free speech” in the academy. Yet the episode brings the controversy into sharper focus. It’s not just a “free speech” issue at Georgetown or elsewhere. It’s simply another bit of evidence that contemporary higher education, with some exceptions, is no longer an ivory tower. It is a leftist citadel keeping the gates up for all those not in the progressive camp.
Shapiro’s suspension was for a pair of tweets:
Objectively best pick for Biden is Sri Srinivasan, who is solid prog & v smart. Even has identity politics benefit of being first Asian (Indian) American. But alas doesn’t fit into the latest intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black woman. Thank heaven for small favors?
“Because Biden said he’s only consider[ing] black women for SCOTUS, his nominee will always have an asterisk attached. Fitting that the Court takes up affirmative action next term.
The leftist mob got kicked into gear because of that phrase “lesser black woman,” as if Shapiro had been making some sort of generalized claim about black women rather than making a case that any black woman—or black man or white man or woman—would be lesser compared to Sri Srinivasan and that thus we can see how racial discrimination does not even benefit the progressive side. And though Shapiro had deleted the tweets even before the controversy and wrote an apology very quickly for his “inartful phrasing,” calls for his removal have continued apace and Georgetown Law dean William Treanor pusillanimously offered to pay for food for protesters who organized a sit-in and claimed that they were unable to function because of the horror of said tweets.
Those commenting have noted that Georgetown seems to have extraordinarily flexible standards about such things. During confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, Georgetown professor Christine Fair tweeted about her desire for “terrible deaths” for Kavanaugh’s supporters, whose corpses she wished to castrate and feed to swine. In 2020 Professor Heidi Li Feldman tweeted that the Law School should not support any applications of Georgetown Law students to clerk for judges appointed by Donald Trump and that law firms should not hire anyone who did so.
Fair was briefly suspended for her violent comments but was then vindicated and praised. Feldman apparently faced no scrutiny despite university and city non-discrimination rules forbidding discrimination based on political affiliation.
In short, it’s not “free speech” that’s in danger. It’s simply speech that purportedly offends—I say purportedly because the meaning of Shapiro’s tweet, though “inartful,” in his words, is pretty easily understood—the left.
This has long been known and was demonstrated by Eric Kaufmann of Birkbeck College, London, whose research group CSPI released a study in 2021 finding that conservative academics, who make a smaller and smaller share of the professoriate, have encountered more problems with disciplinary action for speech and are much more likely to self-censor. The mainstream academy has become more and more left-leaning and secular. Conservatives and even classical liberals face increasingly high barriers to work in the academy, while those on the left have been finding a safe haven for years.
Think Angela Davis, who went from outright Communism to positions at Cal Santa Cruz and Rutgers, with distinguished visiting professorships at Syracuse and Vassar. Or Bill Ayers, whose Weather Underground terrorism was no barrier to becoming a professor at University of Illinois-Chicago. Or Melissa Click, the University of Missouri professor who assaulted a student journalist and screamed profanities at the police during protests in 2016; she was released by Mizzou but immediately picked up by Gonzaga University and remains to this day. Or Pete Buttigieg, the mediocre mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who somehow caught enough attention to mount a presidential campaign and was rewarded with a position at Notre Dame’s Institute for Advanced Studies doing work on (I’m not making this up) regaining trust in political institutions. Or Joe Biden himself, who taught a course in international diplomacy at the University of Pennsylvania after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. Not a bad gig for a guy about whom Obama’s Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in a memoir has “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
One could name more figures who show that being liberal means never saying sorry or, in Mayor Pete and the President’s case, actually accomplishing anything. It does, however, mean gigs at top tier institutions. But given that we started with Georgetown, it might be worth noting two specifics persons on Georgetown’s website.
Peter Stzrok II has been an adjunct professor teaching a course on “Counterintelligence and National Security” since the fall of 2020. Yes, the Peter Stzrok whose text messages put such a cloud over the FBI with their implication of “a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects,” as the Inspector General’s report would conclude. The same Peter Stzrok involved in the “Russia investigation” whose only supporting material was the fraudulent dossier provided by Christopher Steele through the funding of Hilary Clinton.
But if there’s one name on Georgetown’s website that’s more breathtaking than Stzrok’s, it is a Georgetown “affiliate” named Hunter Biden, who spent time in 2014 teaching a course at his alma mater titled “Art of Advocacy In and Out of Government.”
There aren’t enough jokes in the world to cover that one.
Especially when you factor in the calculation made by journalists that Master Hunter created his infamous Ashley Madison account from the campus during the semester he was teaching. Hunter is still listed on the website at Georgetown, while the country’s greatest essayist, Joseph Epstein, who taught for thirty years at Northwestern University as a lecturer and had been given emeritus status, has been scrubbed from that institution’s English department page because he wrote a joking op-ed for the Wall Street Journal encouraging Jill Biden to drop her use of “Doctor” as a title.
Georgetown is not alone in its determination to become both a home and a safe space for wayward liberal politicians and leftists. This is the way of most universities these days. But it is quite remarkable that a university founded by Catholic priests seems to offer institutional absolution strictly on partisan lines. Alas, as too many commentators over the years have noticed, Georgetown long ago lost the Catholic and Christian vision that animated its founders. Instead of the prophetic hope that every valley be exalted, Georgetown has set its hopes on exalting those who emerge from or serve the swamp.
David P. Deavel is editor of Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, co-director of the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy, and a visiting professor at the University of St. Thomas (MN). He is the co-host of the Deep Down Things podcast.
It’s hard to imagine that in our country people are being punished for Christian
Then let these protestors die of starvation! Useless to anyone anyhow!
The Dems, far left, progressives, liberals and ‘wokes’, are a bunch of PARASITES eating off the American citizens life ‘s . Greedy , power hungry insects devouring and destroying everything they touch. Pure unadulterated evil.
Is this the same Georgetown whose athletic teams wear blue and grey to honor students from the school who fought on both sides of the Civil War?
Well honestly, Georgetown U is simply a reflection of most universities and colleges these days. Overwhelming biased towards the left and completely intolerant of any idea or position that is NOT fully aligned with current left wing orthodoxy. Georgetown hasn’t been reflective of its founders’ vision and values for decades. Its chief goal today is to continue to churn out good, little, leftist drones to work inside the Washington, D.C. beltway. On that matter, they are hitting a homerun. Toss a stone in any direction in Washington and you are assured of hitting a Georgetown graduate.
If I was young enough to have a child ready for higher education…college would not be encouraged by me..Trades would instead..Today’s Collages are a major disappointment….let’s face it…sounds like Socialism/ Communism. I can hardly wait for this current criminal/political administration and radical groups to disappear. God help us!
Since the FASCIST liberals HATE and PREACH HATE WITH LIES they can MOVE to IRAN, CHINA, N. KOREA and GET THE HELL OUT of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.
The FASCIST liberals are NOT welcomed in the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.
My son wrote a thesis about the constitution and it’s values and protections for all American citizens. Very passionate and comes from a conservative Republican background, he’s never had a grade less than b or 90 percent and graduated in the top 5 percent of his class on high school. We are true believers in our country and are capitalistic to the very core. Hard working and he’s a 4th generation part of our mid size business, anyway after he received his grade ( was given a incomplete review, his professor refused to grade his papers) we had to see the dean of a very respectful top university ( they have a tremendous basketball program and have won numerous championships) The dean highly recommended he review his assignment and try to meet somewhere that would be more in line with the professors beliefs! This is actually a TRUE STORY!!! His new assignment was given a b and he lectured my son afterwards, my son stood up and disagreed with this professor and stood his ground! The leftists do not like being questioned about there Marxist ways and with the pen will severely punish anyone who goes against their progressive socialist teachings.
Chap 7 Georgetown Univ, Hooray
Someone should inform our Jesuit Pope that our Georgetown educators seem to have lost their WAY, and the TRUTH and LIFE as well.
Not to worry, the woke zombies will self-destruct while sadly cannibalizing and offering their young to Moloch.
Teach your children how to protect themselves while learning a productive, honest trade.
The liberals have brought karmic judgement on themselves.
Pray for our People and Country.
Any parent who would put themselves or their children deep in debt to attend an “elite” college is a FOOL! They all have multi-million dollar endowments but still overcharge students. “Professors” don’t teach; they either indoctrinate directly or write books while their TA’s do all the classroom work!
SCOTUS was designed by the founders to be apolitical. Most presidents have at least made a pretense of appointing a qualified candidate based on their knowledge of and desire to preserve constitutional law — until Obama and Biden, that is. This continues a very destructive precident.
If anyone reading this has a child or grandchild nearing college age, I highly suggest the conservative Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. It is a fantastic school with many highly successful graduates. They not only stress the Constitution, but studying it is required for graduation. My granddaughter attends Hillsdale and loves it. There are no liberal, woke professors there.
Among the proudest days of my life was the day my son turned down his admission at Harvard and accepted at Navy. The military academies are drifting left too but, by comparison to “elite” civilian schools, haven’t lost their way entirely.
pelosi has lubianka plans for hoyas
I lost faith in my alma mater 20+ years ago when I brought my daughter there for a summer program, to be greeted by large banners advertising the Muslim Student Alliance. Quite a surprise from my 1970’s years. And the Law School is a complete disgrace with students asking for safe spaces, free food, and cry rooms. What an embarrassment and travesty.
Ceased alumni contributions years ago.
I watch in horror as my alma mater (Law) slides farther and farther down into the leftist abyss. I once was proud of my degree; now I bury it, lest people think I’m at all related to the woke fanatics that now infest those halls. My monthly law school magazine goes straight into the garbage and they will never see a dime of my money. Who is still giving to this place? Soros?
Our universities teach White students that they are immoral and contemptible if they don’t support the White Genocide that’s being carried out by massive third-world immigration and FORCED assimilation i.e diversity for EVERY White country and ONLY White countries.
Their professors never tell them, “White self-hatred is SICK!!!“
Those professors claim to be anti-racist. What they are is anti-White.
Anti-racist is a code word for anti-White.
One comment: Georgetown’s Ivory Tower Becomes a Leftist CitadelBECOMES?
This is not a “big deal” and I am certain the University will handle this appropriately user their current written guidelines.
If I recall correctly, didn’t Georgetown once block the “Chi-Ro” Christian symbol during an address by Barack Obama? OMG. The Jesuit order, which is supposed to run the place, has either lost its nerve or turned apostate. Shameful.
Never send your offspring to that over-priced, over-hyped den of Leftist ideology!
I have often wondered why intellectuals are culled first in societal resets-now I wonder no more.
It’s hard to imagine that in our country people are being punished for Christian
Then let these protestors die of starvation! Useless to anyone anyhow!
The Dems, far left, progressives, liberals and ‘wokes’, are a bunch of PARASITES eating off the American citizens life ‘s . Greedy , power hungry insects devouring and destroying everything they touch. Pure unadulterated evil.
Is this the same Georgetown whose athletic teams wear blue and grey to honor students from the school who fought on both sides of the Civil War?
Well honestly, Georgetown U is simply a reflection of most universities and colleges these days. Overwhelming biased towards the left and completely intolerant of any idea or position that is NOT fully aligned with current left wing orthodoxy. Georgetown hasn’t been reflective of its founders’ vision and values for decades. Its chief goal today is to continue to churn out good, little, leftist drones to work inside the Washington, D.C. beltway. On that matter, they are hitting a homerun. Toss a stone in any direction in Washington and you are assured of hitting a Georgetown graduate.
If I was young enough to have a child ready for higher education…college would not be encouraged by me..Trades would instead..Today’s Collages are a major disappointment….let’s face it…sounds like Socialism/ Communism. I can hardly wait for this current criminal/political administration and radical groups to disappear. God help us!
Since the FASCIST liberals HATE and PREACH HATE WITH LIES they can MOVE to IRAN, CHINA, N. KOREA and GET THE HELL OUT of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.
The FASCIST liberals are NOT welcomed in the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.
My son wrote a thesis about the constitution and it’s values and protections for all American citizens. Very passionate and comes from a conservative Republican background, he’s never had a grade less than b or 90 percent and graduated in the top 5 percent of his class on high school. We are true believers in our country and are capitalistic to the very core. Hard working and he’s a 4th generation part of our mid size business, anyway after he received his grade ( was given a incomplete review, his professor refused to grade his papers) we had to see the dean of a very respectful top university ( they have a tremendous basketball program and have won numerous championships) The dean highly recommended he review his assignment and try to meet somewhere that would be more in line with the professors beliefs! This is actually a TRUE STORY!!! His new assignment was given a b and he lectured my son afterwards, my son stood up and disagreed with this professor and stood his ground! The leftists do not like being questioned about there Marxist ways and with the pen will severely punish anyone who goes against their progressive socialist teachings.
Chap 7 Georgetown Univ, Hooray
Someone should inform our Jesuit Pope that our Georgetown educators seem to have lost their WAY, and the TRUTH and LIFE as well.
Not to worry, the woke zombies will self-destruct while sadly cannibalizing and offering their young to Moloch.
Teach your children how to protect themselves while learning a productive, honest trade.
The liberals have brought karmic judgement on themselves.
Pray for our People and Country.
Any parent who would put themselves or their children deep in debt to attend an “elite” college is a FOOL! They all have multi-million dollar endowments but still overcharge students. “Professors” don’t teach; they either indoctrinate directly or write books while their TA’s do all the classroom work!
SCOTUS was designed by the founders to be apolitical. Most presidents have at least made a pretense of appointing a qualified candidate based on their knowledge of and desire to preserve constitutional law — until Obama and Biden, that is. This continues a very destructive precident.
If anyone reading this has a child or grandchild nearing college age, I highly suggest the conservative Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. It is a fantastic school with many highly successful graduates. They not only stress the Constitution, but studying it is required for graduation. My granddaughter attends Hillsdale and loves it. There are no liberal, woke professors there.
Among the proudest days of my life was the day my son turned down his admission at Harvard and accepted at Navy. The military academies are drifting left too but, by comparison to “elite” civilian schools, haven’t lost their way entirely.
pelosi has lubianka plans for hoyas
I lost faith in my alma mater 20+ years ago when I brought my daughter there for a summer program, to be greeted by large banners advertising the Muslim Student Alliance. Quite a surprise from my 1970’s years. And the Law School is a complete disgrace with students asking for safe spaces, free food, and cry rooms. What an embarrassment and travesty.
Ceased alumni contributions years ago.
I watch in horror as my alma mater (Law) slides farther and farther down into the leftist abyss. I once was proud of my degree; now I bury it, lest people think I’m at all related to the woke fanatics that now infest those halls. My monthly law school magazine goes straight into the garbage and they will never see a dime of my money. Who is still giving to this place? Soros?
Our universities teach White students that they are immoral and contemptible if they don’t support the White Genocide that’s being carried out by massive third-world immigration and FORCED assimilation i.e diversity for EVERY White country and ONLY White countries.
Their professors never tell them, “White self-hatred is SICK!!!“
Those professors claim to be anti-racist. What they are is anti-White.
Anti-racist is a code word for anti-White.
One comment: Georgetown’s Ivory Tower Becomes a Leftist CitadelBECOMES?
This is not a “big deal” and I am certain the University will handle this appropriately user their current written guidelines.
If I recall correctly, didn’t Georgetown once block the “Chi-Ro” Christian symbol during an address by Barack Obama? OMG. The Jesuit order, which is supposed to run the place, has either lost its nerve or turned apostate. Shameful.
Never send your offspring to that over-priced, over-hyped den of Leftist ideology!
I have often wondered why intellectuals are culled first in societal resets-now I wonder no more.