It's one thing to see the obvious brainwashing that occurs to college students throughout the country. It's another thing entirely to see empirical data proving that university administrations have actively worked against students. A new report from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) does just that.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) released its Spotlight on Due Process Report for 2018, and the results are dismal. FIRE surveyed "the top 53 universities in the country, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report," examining each school for their "investigative and punishing of offenses ranging from vandalism and housing violations to felonious acts of sexual assault," cases that, as the report notes, should be handled instead by actual law enforcement.
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The report describes a widespread "shadow justice system," and 39 of those 53 institutions "do not presume the innocence of accused students." Fewer than a third of the schools "guarantee a meaningful hearing, where each party may see and hear the evidence being presented to fact-finders by the opposing party," and nearly half of the 53 schools do not require that fact-finders, "the institution's version of judge and/or jury" be impartial. Not a single policy that FIRE examined got an A grade, while 47 of the 53 institutions received a D or F grade from FIRE for at least one disciplinary policy.
Notably, Harvard and Yale — which have turned into beacons of social justice over the past few years — ranked extremely low.
If college administrations remain unchecked, they'll keep doing what they've been doing, building power and subjecting college students to a rogue justice system.
Unfortunately, data-filled academic reports can often go unnoticed, or misunderstood, especially as colleges turn to social sciences over hard science. So we need to pay attention when we hear universities described with phrases like "shadow justice system" from an organization like FIRE, which is completely nonpartisan, I can say that for sure because I've had Greg Lukianoff, the President of FIRE, here in studio for a podcast.
There's a lot at stake here. If college administrations remain unchecked, they'll keep doing what they've been doing, building power and subjecting college students to a rogue justice system.
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