Peter MacKinnon: Yale report on declining trust in higher education should be read

"We must be willing to admit where we have been wrong, and where we might improve,” states a Yale faculty committee report examining reasons for declining trust in institutions of higher education. Photo by Getty Images / iStock

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Yale is among America’s — and the world’s — finest universities, and we should take note when its president identifies a problem of declining trust in higher education and commissions a faculty committee to examine the problem.

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The Committee on Trust in Higher Education submitted its findings and recommendations, which committee members supported unanimously, on April 10. The committee’s report declared that “the issue of declining trust is real, urgent and must be addressed” and identified several reasons for the decline at Yale and other universities. The reasons will not come as a surprise to careful observers of these institutions: the cost of higher education, generally but particularly at Ivy League and private schools, is widely seen as too high; admissions without transparency and often driven by non-academic criteria (read identity, athleticism, family connections and money); pressures toward conformity, intimidation and social shaming; self-censorship; and ideological echo chambers resulting from homogeneity — on the left — in the professoriate. Smart phones and social media contribute to the problems, devaluing the classroom.

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The committee also cited a challenge to Yale’s governance model which, in recent decades, “has come under strain from the growth of non-academic administrative functions across the university.” Canadian universities can relate; they have administrators and supports that outnumber academic personnel, sometimes by multiples.

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There are differences between U.S. and Canadian universities (for example, cost) but the similarities between the Yale list and issues on our campuses are notable. What is more troubling, in Canada, is the lack of acknowledgment that we have similar problems and the relative absence of public debate on them. This makes the Yale report all the more important for people in both countries.

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Among its recommendations:

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• The committee begins with a shift in attitude: “We must be willing to admit where we have been wrong, and where we might improve,” and must focus on “what makes a university a university” as expressed in Yale’s historical mission “to create, disseminate and preserve knowledge through research and teaching.” That is the mission; it does not include institutional pursuit of social justice, cancel culture, decolonization, or recruitment of faculty and students according to race, colour, gender, or sexual orientation.

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• Free speech must be treated as a first principle. “It includes the right of invited speakers, of any political or intellectual persuasion, to speak unimpeded on campus. It also affirms the right of students, faculty, and other members of the community to engage in peaceful protest, debate and exchange, though not to disrupt events, shout down speakers or block access to buildings.”

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• Support for academic freedom, the “scholarly bedrock of any excellent university,” must also be prioritized.

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• Higher education must be made affordable.

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• Undergraduate admissions must be reformed: “We recommend that the university embrace a standard of candour; it should only use criteria for admission that it is willing to describe publicly and defend openly. The top priority in admissions decisions should be academic achievement.”

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• The committee further recommended “that Yale undertake a multi-pronged series of initiatives and experiments with the goal of enhancing open and critical debate on campus.” It emphasized the importance of open minds: “Great teaching and scholarship require contestation.” As John Stuart Mill reminded us, “it is only by the collision of adverse opinions” that truth can be found.

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There are other recommendations but the ones above convey the flavour of the report and point to the need for comprehensive reform. Canadian universities should follow suit and commit to a new charter based on the Yale report and its full recommendations.

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National Post

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Peter MacKinnon is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a King’s Counsel, and a former president of three universities.

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