The Woke University: How Universalism Became a Magnifying Glass for Madness, By Paul Walker
Once beacons of universal truth and cosmopolitan inquiry, universities have become factories for woke ideology, churning out zealous woke Leftist ideologues instead of critical thinkers. As John Maier and Daniel Kodsi argue in their searing Sunday Times piece, "Academics are to blame for the woke wreckage at universities," this is no accident but the result of senior academics' complicity, nodding through a cultural rot that has infected every level of academia. Far from being victims of student activism, universities are the epicentre of a globalist internationalist propaganda machine, amplifying social madness to its breaking point. This is the endgame of their universalist and cosmopolitan aspirations, twisted by unchecked Leftist ideology and fuelled by academics' self-serving climb up the greasy pole of institutional power.
The Fall of Universalism
Universities were founded on the noble pursuit of universal truths, knowledge that transcends borders, cultures, and eras. Their cosmopolitan ethos welcomed diverse perspectives, fostering debate and discovery. But in today's environment of limitless woke and Leftist madness, this universalism has curdled into a dogmatic monoculture. Maier and Kodsi, young Oxford academics, reveal a chilling truth: the "damage being done by woke ideology" infects "taught content, research, disciplinary norms and even institutional design." From syllabi purged of "problematic" classics, to research agendas warped by ideological litmus tests, universities no longer seek truth, but enforce conformity.
This is no grassroots rebellion. The real culprits, as the authors note, are "academics in positions of authority and secure employment" who have "negligently allowed the culture to be trashed." Tenure, meant to protect intellectual freedom, now shields purveyors of bankrupt Leftist ideologies. Senior scholars, eager to maintain relevance or climb the academic ladder, churn out material that panders to the latest social justice fads, equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI) dogmas, critical race theory, or Marxist reinterpretations of history, all against Western civilisation. The result? A feedback loop where universities don't just plant the seeds of social madness, but act as magnifying glasses, amplifying every fleeting cultural neurosis into a full-blown orthodoxy.
The Incentive to Amplify Madness
Why do academics fuel this fire? The answer lies in the perverse incentives of the ivory tower. To ascend the greasy pole, securing grants, publications, or prestigious chairs, scholars must produce work that resonates with the zeitgeist. In 2025, that means aligning with woke orthodoxy. A 2023 study found that 66% of U.S. faculty feel pressure to avoid controversial topics, while EDI bureaucracies, funded by bloated university budgets, police discourse and reward ideological conformity. Maier and Kodsi highlight how subsidies for degrees have "depressed standards," flooding academia with students and scholars chasing credentials over truth. The result is a race to the bottom, where the loudest, most ideologically pure voices rise fastest.
This dynamic turns universities into amplifiers of social madness. A single activist's grievance, say, a "problematic" historical figure, can spiral into campus-wide purges of statues, curricula, or dissenters. Consider the 2024 Oxford case where a classics course was revamped to "decolonise" it, sidelining Homer and Virgil for "diverse" texts that fit the EDI mould. Such moves aren't driven by scholarship, but by the need to signal virtue, win funding, or appease vocal minorities. Academics, far from resisting, lean in, knowing that each paper on "queering medieval literature" or "climate justice" boosts their career. The university, once a crucible for debate, now magnifies every social ill into a crusade.
The Endgame of Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism, the ideal of embracing global perspectives, has also been hijacked. Instead of fostering open inquiry, it's become a vehicle for universalising woke dogma. Universities export their ideologies globally, training students to see every issue, history, science, art, through the lens of power, privilege, and oppression. This isn't education; it's indoctrination. The Sunday Times authors note that woke ideology "disables academia from promoting knowledge and furthering the good," blinding scholars to their own bias. A 2022 survey found 70% of UK students believe "offensive" speech should be restricted on campus, a mindset nurtured by professors who frame dissent as harm.
This endgame is starkly visible in societal outcomes. The Journal of Psychiatric Research's 2024 study, cited alongside the Sunday Times piece, shows the real-world toll of ideological blind spots: women who've had abortions face double the risk of mental health hospitalisations, yet universities often champion abortion as empowerment, ignoring such data. Similarly, tourism trends highlight public backlash, Florida's "freedom-first" policies draw record visitors (34.4 million in Q2 2025), while California's woke governance fuels a tourism slump amid crime and "political tensions." Universities, by amplifying these divisive ideologies, alienate the public they claim to serve.
Maier and Kodsi propose bold fixes: curb EDI funding, rethink degree subsidies, and question tenure's role in shielding ideologues. These require government intervention, as academia's self-correcting mechanisms are broken. But the deeper challenge is cultural. Universities must rediscover their universalist roots, not as platforms for globalised dogma but as spaces for fearless inquiry. Christians might see this as a call to steward knowledge as God's gift (Proverbs 1:7), not a tool for social engineering. The public, weary of woke excess, craves institutions that prioritise truth over ideology, places where ideas are tested, not sanctified.
The woke university is not a victim of student activism, but the architect of its own decline. By abandoning universalism for ideological conformity, it has become a magnifying glass for society's worst impulses. The greasy pole of academia rewards those who fan the flames, but the cost is a generation of students indoctrinated rather than educated. If universities are to reclaim their purpose, they must reject the madness they've amplified and return to the pursuit of truth, no matter how inconvenient. But I feel it may be too late and the final rot has set in, and we are best to treat universities as in need of defunding and elimination.
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