Columbia was already a rather sad and intellectually moribund environment by the time I arrived in 2011, even worse than Brown just a few years earlier. Yet, jaded as I thought I was, the utter collapse of discourse over the next decade was breathtaking, picking up speed after Obama’s reelection and then especially the Trump upset. However I felt about such dramatic decline, it was my job to sell the dream and pretend vibrant conversations were still happening, and for the most part journalists and alumni were happy to believe.

Can anything be done to salvage higher education? Structurally not much, with too many true believers and perverse incentives baked into the system. But that segment of university leadership and tenured faculty who privately know better could certainly show some more courage in standing up for freedom of expression, and concerned alums get a lot more involved. Like many formerly great institutions Columbia still retains capacity to be better than it is, with such resources and talented people around.

Step one is for alumnae/i to stop giving money, and instead devote time and attention pushing alma mater to restore higher standards. Not being rude, but resolute that even the most nostalgic alum cannot in good conscience donate to institutions that have abandoned their commitment to open inquiry.

[Be sure to read it all. It sounds like Mission Impossible to me, but the first step for alumni really should be to force schools to get rid of the administrative-dean class and narrow the focus back to actual education. — Ed]