THOUGHTS ON LAW SCHOOL DIVERSITY, from Ann Althouse.
As for why law professors should care about this, some thoughts from Jonathan Adler:
The university’s ideological tilt, combined with its intolerance, cannot but place higher education in an even more precarious place. After all, how long will taxpayers in red states be willing to subsidize universities that appear to be their ideological enemies? In a politically polarized nation, why subsidize the other side?
Recent events in Wisconsin — where Gov. Scott Walker (R) and the state legislature have slashed state funding, frozen tuition and weakened tenure — may be an augur of things to come. Financial pressures are part of the cause, but the widespread perception that universities do more to encourage progressive activism than to prepare students for successful careers are surely part of the mix as well. After all, it is easier to support spending on higher education when academic institutions are seen to serve the public at large.
Ideological intolerance is a threat to liberal education. In time, it may be a threat to educational institutions as well.
Mizzou is a harbinger. The wise will learn from its example; the unwise will become examples themselves.