Assassinating the Intelligensia

By Meryl Lipman of Portland, Oregon.Describing herself, Meryl says, "I am a refugee from Beverly Hills, California, who arrived in Oregon via Washington DC, Copenhagen, Moscow, Minsk, Seattle and Dubna (Russia). I make my living as a Soviet-area specialist, academic professional (PCC), freelance writer and skydiving coach and in my spare time I'm pursuing a masters degree at PSU." Previously, Meryl contributed A new progressive revolution?

A few weeks ago the World Affairs Council’s Young Professionals met in the upstairs room of a Portland brew pub to ponder the definition of “civil society.” The conversation wandered like a Bedouin, touching on questions of health and elder care and personal freedom vs. social order. But by the third microbrew all had agreed on one thing: a civil society cannot exist unless critical thought is promoted, from kindergarten through the university level.

The subject came up again last weekend at PSU, where a panel of academicians spoke calmly but urgently on the matter of “Academic Freedom Under Siege.” Unbeknownst to most of us, the neo-conservatives have been taking a mighty swipe at academia, that last American bastion of critical thought. They’ve targeted female, foreign and minority professors, “outing” them as leftist liberal intellectuals. If you don’t believe it, check out a popular new web site, www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org.