THE IVY EXILE: Stand, Columbia! “Can anything be done to salvage higher education? Structurally not much, with too many true believers and perverse incentives baked into the system. But that segment of university leadership and tenured faculty who privately know better could certainly show some more courage in standing up for freedom of expression, and concerned alums get a lot more involved. Like many formerly great institutions Columbia still retains capacity to be better than it is, with such resources and talented people around.”

Better than it is is a low enough bar to be achievable.