When I first stepped onto Princeton’s campus, I was surprised by what appeared to be a significant lack of wokeness. Throughout my childhood, I had been told by my conservative friends, family, and the media that the modern university is the bastion of progressive indoctrination. And while our University’s progressive bias is certainly evident, the prevalent depiction of higher education always implied a more direct and forceful conversion process. After all, how else could thousands of reasonable students with traditional values be transformed into leftist activists in just four years?
But as I reflect on my transition to Princeton, I realize that my surprise at the evident lack of wokeness here is actually the result of my own desensitization to the abnormality of higher education’s present state. As a public school student from a very liberal state, I am no stranger to school administrations placing identity politics above growth and ideology above achievement. In my lower-school days, exposure to age-inappropriate content was par for the course. Traditional perspectives were rarely if ever espoused by anyone other than myself in my classes. Conservatives were vilified. I survived the indoctrination. By the time I arrived here, there was very little else that Princeton could do to affect me. But for many other students, common-place leftist lower-school practices had already swayed them long before they entered FitzRandolph Gate. For these students, most of the ideological molding was done before the university even had to lift a finger.
This acceleration of the indoctrination process is incredibly concerning. While much of the energy of the conservative movement is focused on higher education as the focal point of progressive indoctrination, the K-12 education system has for too long been allowed to engage in these practices unchecked. And just as quickly as the Covid-19 pandemic alerted parents and lawmakers to how severe the situation in our schools is, their passion disappeared, as if the election of Glenn Youngkin in Virginia completely solved this issue nationwide. An inconsistent or lacking focus on our education system – and the most vulnerable members of our population – only places conservatives in a position to repeat the mistakes we previously made.
Parents and communities must work to directly combat this threat. The most effective way to accomplish this is through school board elections. While these races tend to get overlooked in the slew of political rhetoric and polls that come with election season, they are one of the best ways for voters to directly impact policies that will affect them and their children. Additionally, as fighting against massive bureaucracies is often an arduous and thankless job, many ideal candidates stray away from running for school board positions. However, it is more important than ever that people with strong convictions run for and win these positions to raise standards of excellence, instill American values, limit the tyranny of teachers’ unions, and keep children safe.
Only when conservatives recognize the power of the school board will we be able to create an environment where leftist indoctrination in our universities is the exception, not the rule. This in turn will give us the tools and cultural momentum to be able to eradicate woke education, and ensure that our youth are finally able to simply learn how – not what – to think.
The above is an opinion contribution and reflects the author’s views alone.
Copyright © 2024 The Princeton Tory. All rights reserved.