As usual, a very thoughtful and thought-provoking perspective from Holden. Although one statement may reflect those universities with large endowments, the modification reflects the financial situation of many public and small private universities:
"For the time being, the amounts of money that are being withheld are sufficiently significant that we cannot [delete "easily"] fill in all of the gaps without [delete "eventually"] making deep cuts elsewhere."
"We remain committed to our values of knowledge and justice while at the same time, we have always sought to be a good partner with the federal government. We are now continuously having to choose between these two competing priorities." Really?? Isn't the partnership grounded in those values? Universities must not choose 'partnership' with a federal government that demands that they sacrifice their 'values of knowledge and justice'.
As usual, a very thoughtful and thought-provoking perspective from Holden. Although one statement may reflect those universities with large endowments, the modification reflects the financial situation of many public and small private universities:
"For the time being, the amounts of money that are being withheld are sufficiently significant that we cannot [delete "easily"] fill in all of the gaps without [delete "eventually"] making deep cuts elsewhere."
Fair. Thanks for thinking through this.
"We remain committed to our values of knowledge and justice while at the same time, we have always sought to be a good partner with the federal government. We are now continuously having to choose between these two competing priorities." Really?? Isn't the partnership grounded in those values? Universities must not choose 'partnership' with a federal government that demands that they sacrifice their 'values of knowledge and justice'.
What you write here is not incorrect, but it is incomplete.
See:
https://theamericanenterprise.com/the-politicization-of-expertise/
So long as the framing is "us vs them" (as you write, "Guess what? They already think that") academia will not make much progress here.
I’ll take ‘not incorrect’ from you as a victory.
Thanks, Holden. Much appreciated!