From Michael Moynihan and Vice News, a seven-minute trip through the campus-activist insane asylum with the professors and administrators who have chosen to lock themselves in. The Evergreen story is well known to right-wing media consumers by now — John has been tracking it on our site for weeks — but there’s much to be gained from seeing and hearing the major players describe it in their own words. “I have often wondered what it would be like to capture people in the midst of an ideological re-education exercise,” wrote Reason’s Matt Welch of this clip. “[N]ow I wonder no more.”
The most pitiful creature here isn’t one of the young thoughtpolicemen from the Mos Eisley protest collective. It’s George Bridges, the president of the college, who looks and sounds every inch a hostage. Which is what he was, literally: Moynihan reminds him that he was effectively taken prisoner by activists, replete with an escort to the bathroom when nature called. Why did you think they insisted on escorting you, Moynihan asks? “I don’t know,” says Bridges, pathetically. Well, did you ask them, Moynihan retorts? Says Bridges, “No. Of course not.” There’s great weight in that “of course not.” His job requires him to co-exist with these cretins so he bends over backwards to soothe them by minimizing what they’ve done and trying to see things from their point of view. But the “of course not” gives the game away: At base this is a power play and he knows where the power on campus resides. You don’t ask the authorities why they’re escorting you to take a leak, especially when you’re not sure what they’re capable of. He published a column a few days ago vowing to get tough on students who threaten others’ free-speech rights, but after watching this it’s impossible to believe he means what he says.
Keep an eye out for the non-activist student who, when asked how she feels about Bret Weinstein’s refusal to participate in the “Day of Absence,” admits she’s afraid of being stigmatized because she holds “a nuanced opinion.” That’s as succinct an indictment of American higher education as you’ll ever find.
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