Liberal Collectivist Academics At Vanderbilt Complain About Collectivism

Apparently there is an unsigned letter to the Chancellor of Vanderbilt University, Nicholas Zeppos, that not only shows a lack of confidence in Vanderbilt University’s “Dear Leader,” but also goes against the core beliefs of current Western liberalism.

This letter is so far out there, that some might actually think it is some type of /pol/ troll. After examining this letter, I have concluded that it most likely is genuine. The first thing that indicates this is the sense of entitlement that these employees of a business have when making demands.

The second indicator is the theme that academics should have priority on a modern american campus. This liberal doublespeak literally got me to choke on my coffee and is most likely the reason that no one has attached a name to it. I might be wrong in my conclusion on its authenticity (there are some typos), so you can be the judge for yourself.

How does this letter show the inconsistencies and incongruities in modern American academia?

I will show you, piece by piece:

Out of great concern for Vanderbilt University and our desire to defend the standing of its Faculty, we are writing to address the increasing misalignment between our academic needs and the support they receive at this University. We believe that Chancellor’s strategic priorities -including building increasing numbers of new undergraduate dormitories; supporting large-scale university athletics; committing to a massively expensive undergraduate financial aid model; and centralizing administrative functions that have served only to increase our bureaucratic burden

These “faculty” immediately oppose the very business model colleges use to build the monopoly on higher education through “mass production.” Without this, it would be very difficult to indoctrinate the masses that attend without distracting them with shiny things and football. Also, the portent to the further cognitive dissonance of finances is presented.

The Chancellor has created a toxic organizational environment marked by fear and retribution

I wonder how “toxic” the classroom environment might be in any of the soft science departments at Vanderbilt. I am sure any sociology or women’s studies class would be far more toxic to students of a certain sex and race than any environment the chancellor can create for the faculty.

To be sure, a significant amount of our Schools’ financial resources are being drained by the Central Administration to fund the Chancellor’s priorities.

How dare they criticize the emulation of the Supreme Soviet Central Committee. This is where the letter starts to sound like a Tea Party rant if one replaced “Vanderbilt” with “US Government.”

The University’s financial aid program for undergraduate education – including extraordinary levels of merit, need and athletic aid that the University awards – has forced upon us one of the most costly undergraduate financial aid programs in the nation.

It appears these academics do not want to right past wrongs by giving a helping hand to those that are not “privileged.”

The overzealous management of Vanderbilt’s compliance programs is suffocating the creative efforts of our faculty

It seems they have a problem with complying with regulations when it applies to them. I wonder how many provisions of the United States Education Amendments of 1972 these academics have used against their ideological enemies.

This letter goes on about the dis-empowerment of the academic faculty in the financial control of the University. Their screed against centralization, bureaucracy, and non-academic pursuits is totally at odds with the propaganda they push.

I only wish some had signed this letter with their real names so I could research them and give examples of their stark hypocrisy. Alas, they did not, so the message of the letter can be looked at as a new trend: ivory tower infighting on display for the world to see.

The two main messages presented are the apparent money problems in this university and the open shift of priorities and power away from academics. The money trouble indicates the gravy train of higher education is slowing down and is causing the cogs in the machine to turn on each other for resources.

The shift of power further away from academics could indicate a threat to their control on the social narrative. Stay tuned.

Read More: 5 Reasons Why Girls With Tattoos And Piercings Are Broken

---