Mo Tkacik, one of those rare Internet journalists who is frequently guilty of actual journalism, has the goods on the continuing conservative takeover of the University of Virginia system. Billionaire Randian Randal Kirk and his money have wormed their way into the bureaucracy of UVa and torpedoed the study of climate science on Virginia. It’s an inconvenient science for our Galtian overlords, given that it keeps revealing the objective reality of global warming and incredible ecological devastation. So, since the administration has taken over the American higher ed system from the people who actually research and teach, and many college administrators are straightforwardly corrupt, climate science is on the outs. As Tkacik points out, this isn’t Kirk’s first go round; he essentially executed a hostile takeover of his alma mater, Radford University, and even had a local reporter pushed out for investigating it all. Welcome to the future of higher ed, where plutocrats lacking in any educational credentials whatsoever take advantage of empty posturing about “dynamism” and “market forces” and “innovation” to gain control of the educational apparatus. It starts with your David Brooks or your Atlantic, it ends with Randal Kirk squashing legitimate climate science.
The little irony in all of this, of course, is that this is political bias in its most pure and shameless form. Conservatives and libertarians hate political bias in the academy, except when it is conservative or libertarian, in which case they love it.
If you’re not a fan of mine, rejoice, for with the secret election of Mitch Daniels to the presidency of Purdue (which, incidentally, was undertaken by a Board of Trustees that was directly remunerated by Daniels), I will know be working at ground zero for one of these hostile takeovers. I can’t wait to watch a totally unqualified, vicious partisan– hey, Mitch– turn a world-class research university into a conservative propaganda machine, all the while crying “liberal bias.”
Penus
Freddie, you’re a UVa employee?
This (the Kirk thing, not your employment) makes me very sad for my alma mater.
Lex
I think he means Purdue, not UVa.
And, Freddie, can you elaborate on the “directly remunerated” thing? I’d heard about Daniels, but not about that.
Penus
Reading comprehension…I haz it.
Freddie deBoer
As governor, Daniels had approved pay raises for the board mere months before they voted him into the post – secretly, as I mentioned, and well before the announcement.
PeakVT
You might want to re-set the time on this post.
Freddie deBoer
By the way, I meant to schedule this for 2 PM this afternoon, so… fail.
Walizonia
This makes me very sad. All that is good is going to crap.
Lex
@Freddie deBoer: Ah. I was not aware of that. Thanks.