Thread: Protest Problems: Colleges struggle with backlash from parents, donors over left-wing demonstrations

Protest Problems: Colleges struggle with backlash from parents, donors over left-wing demonstrations
Published September 01, 2017
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/01...ee-speech.html

Both the University of Missouri and Evergreen State College have been rocked by left-wing demonstrations, some of which administrators in both schools allowed. Now both have had to deal with falling enrollment and a decline in funds - and there are fears the situation could spread to other schools....




...Now Evergreen State has experienced a decline in enrollment that has resulted in a $2.1 million budget shortfall, forcing the liberal arts school to announce layoffs. The blow to the school's enrollment and finances is seen as stemming, at least in part, from the showdown.

In 2015, the University of Missouri's main campus, which is in Columbia, experienced escalating tensions over allegations of racism at the school – and protests became violent. Several administrators acceded to demonstrators' demands that they resign.

School officials were widely criticized for not gaining control over the protests, which grew in size and tension, even resulting in some demonstrators lashing out at reporters who were trying to cover their message.

Since then, freshman enrollment has plunged by 35 percent, and donations to the athletic department have dropped 72 percent over the year before, according to published reports....





...If left-wing groups continue making demands and administrators acquiesce to them, other schools may suffer the same fate as Missouri and Evergreen, according to one expert.

"I don't think we have seen the full extent of the fallout at the University of Missouri," Sterling Beard, editor of The Leadership Institute's Campus Reform, told Fox News. "Violence is coming from Antifa groups on campus. Now they control administrators and shut out competing ideas they disagree with or don't like."...




....One school that has resisted the kinds of demands Missouri and Evergreen gave in to is the University of Chicago.

In the summer of 2016 incoming freshmen at the University of Chicago received a welcome letter that made the institution's commitment to the free and open expression of ideas clear:

"Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called 'trigger warnings,' we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual 'safe spaces' where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own."

Evergreen State sees 'catastrophic' drop in enrollment after social justice meltdown
By Caleb Parke
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/12...-meltdown.html

Evergreen State College enrollment plummeted after fallout from the controversial "Day of Absence" in May 2017 when all white people were asked to leave the campus.

The publicly funded college – committed to social justice – became the poster child of a campus overrun by hyper-political correctness when students shut down the campus and shouted down then-evolutionary biology professor Bret Weinstein for merely questioning the event kicking white people off campus.

Weinstein, who describes himself as "deeply progressive," ultimately lost his job and was labeled a "racist" and "white supremacist."

Although just estimates, a representative from Evergreen said they expect around 350 freshman this fall, with a total of 3,000-3,100 total enrollment, both of which "do represent significant decreases as compared to before the 2017 unrest."

"It's a catastrophic drop, but I'm hoping we'll recover," Evergreen Professor Mike Paros told Fox News.

"Advocacy and activism rather than the pursuit of truth and knowledge is being promoted as a way of recruiting desperately needed new students," Paros wrote. "Bringing in new faculty or guest speakers with conservative or centrist political perspectives is considered risky and out of the question at the moment. Fear and self-censorship is pervasive among Evergreen faculty, especially under the existing budget crisis."




.....In May, to prepare for the drop in enrollment, Evergreen cut $6 million out of its budget – a little over 10 percent of the total – and laid off 20 faculty and staff, as well as not filling 19 vacant staff positions, the Seattle Times reported.

Evergreen is the state's smallest public college, but over the past five years has seen a drop of 1,000 students. In addition to the negative publicity and unsafe environment on campus, some students have said the college was not rigorous enough as their reason for leaving.