"And I'm never going back
to my old school."
-Steely Dan
Once again, the media is misreporting an important story. The anti-Israel protests on hundreds of college campuses do not represent a popular uprising like Vietnam. Rather, they have been contrived by far-left organizations to foment public disorder in the USA. That is a primary tactic of the radicals.
Last week in this space, we named the groups involved in organizing the demonstrations and pinpointed who is funneling money to them. Hello, George Soros. Surprised? Didn't think so.
Anyway, the NYPD is reporting that 60 percent of those arrested at Columbia University and City College are "outside agitators," not students. Surprised? MSNBC is. Well, not really. False reporting is a mandate over there.
The Progressive Left Want 'Chaos and Anarchy,' O'Reilly Tells Cuomo
The untold story emerging from the college chaos is the dark cowardice that pervades academic leadership. We all see it. Presidents of major schools unwilling to condemn far left hatred and calls for violence. That's new. That's troubling.
Institutions like Columbia and UCLA will not soon get their reputations back. Even Harvard and Yale are at risk. All because of terrible hiring decisions made by various boards of trustees.
And there is another aspect to this story that has largely gone unnoticed. Indoctrination of students. Manipulating immature minds to embrace the progressive cause.
Here is a vivid example of that.
In the early 1960s, the Marist Brothers, a Catholic order, built a small liberal arts college along the banks of the Hudson River, just north of Poughkeepsie. Their vision was to provide higher education to working-class students under the banner of Catholicism.
Around 1969, the board at Marist College petitioned the state of New York to become a secular institution, thereby qualifying for state aid. However, the Catholic tradition remained with Mass on campus and elective courses in Theology.
I attended Marist and loved the school. Most of my peers were raised in low income homes and some were the first in their families to attend college.
Over the years, I donated more than a million dollars for scholarships so other working class kids could get a Marist education.
But now, I will never give the school another penny. It's gone woke. It's all about leftist indoctrination, and resistance to it on campus is perilous.
Consider this year's "Common Read" at Marist. That's a book used in the first year seminar program. The tome is called "Felix Ever After." The college describes it this way.
"A Young Adult novel about a Black transgender teen who struggles with issues of identity, belonging, and self-assurance as he moves into adulthood, written by a Black, queer and trans author... a theme suggested over the years by many different members of the Marist community and enthusiastically embraced by the committee and the Provost and Dean of Faculty."
Now, there is nothing wrong with reading "Felix Ever After." In fact, if the book creates empathy for misunderstood Americans, that is noble.
But, at Marist, it's a one way experience. If you object to Felix, watch out. Another quote.
"Each year the Common Read committee, composed of faculty, staff and students, makes a recommendation about a text that promotes interdisciplinary dialogues engaging with topics in diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and social justice."
How very woke, how preciously politically correct. A look back at past Marist book selections finds every kind of leftist advocacy. Not one traditional selection. Nothing on patriotism or Judeo-Christian tradition. "Killing Jesus" is not shelved next to Felix.
The Marist Brothers have not said a thing. They are frightened of the forces that now rule the school. They don't want to be demonized.
However, there is some good news: few Marist students are participating in the anti-Israel protests. Apparently, the working-class kids still understand what true justice looks like.
Tragically, what's happening at Marist is occurring all over this country. So here's my protest message to the progressive college authorities.
Can the woke garbage. Give students a balanced education. Indoctrination is a tool of totalitarianism.
In other words, stop the madness. We've seen enough.
Sign up to be a Premium or Concierge Member on BillOReilly.com to get the best 2024 election analysis - honest news and analysis is vital going into the most important election of our lifetime. Sign up here.
