Conservatives & Higher Education: Lessons from Ronald Reagan

Conservatives have long been concerned about academia, but without much to show for it. Lately, however, that has begun to change.

Last year’s Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action sent many universities into a spiral as they sought to retain their now-illegal admissions processes. Then, after Hamas launched deadly terror attacks against Israel last October, student protests — often accompanied by faculty support — revealed antisemitic trends so disturbing that Congress summoned the heads of several leading universities to a hearing. Their poor performances at that hearing led to immense public pressure for the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania to resign. While Penn’s president was out in a matter of days, it was a separate plagiarism scandal that finally took down Harvard’s.

About the Author

Benjamin Rothove

Benjamin Rothove is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and editor-in-chief of the Madison Federalist. He is a Campus Transparency Fellow at The Fund for American Studies and a Young Voices contributor. He was a 2025 National Review summer intern.

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Conservatives have long been concerned about academia, but without much to show for it. Lately, however, that has begun to change.

Last year’s Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action sent many universities into a spiral as they sought to retain their now-illegal admissions processes. Then, after Hamas launched deadly terror attacks against Israel last October, student protests — often accompanied by faculty support — revealed antisemitic trends so disturbing that Congress summoned the heads of several leading universities to a hearing. Their poor performances at that hearing led to immense public pressure for the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania to resign. While Penn’s president was out in a matter of days, it was a separate plagiarism scandal that finally took down Harvard’s.

About the Author

Benjamin Rothove

Benjamin Rothove is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and editor-in-chief of the Madison Federalist. He is a Campus Transparency Fellow at The Fund for American Studies and a Young Voices contributor. He was a 2025 National Review summer intern.