Author Profile

Paul Gottfried

Paul Gottfried is Raffensperger Professor of Humanities Emeritus at
Elizabethtown College. He is the author of eleven books, most recently Leo Strauss and the Conservative Movement in America (Cambridge University Press, 2011), and more than one hundred scholarly articles. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1983.

Articles by Paul Gottfried

Sorry, Students, but I Have Never Espoused Racism or White Supremacy

Jan 19, 2018 · Paul Gottfried · 32 Comments

As I watched the antics of the hooded “Antifa” mobs at Berkeley and other large universities last year, I thought that I’d missed something in my many years as a college professor. Unlike Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, Charles Murray, and other dissenters from the leftist academic consensus, I had never been assailed by raging anti-fascist … Continue reading “Sorry, Students, but I Have Never Espoused Racism or White Supremacy”

A Small College Is Suffering from Self-inflicted Wounds

Feb 24, 2017 · Paul Gottfried · 14 Comments

Recently, one of my neighbors saw students from Elizabethtown College, where I taught for many years, walking down the street wearing what looked like the puzzle pieces featured as symbols by Autistic Awareness. When he asked why they were wearing the all-white puzzle pieces, one of the coeds proudly explained that they were dramatizing the … Continue reading “A Small College Is Suffering from Self-inflicted Wounds”

“Publish or Perish” Isn’t So Bad

Sep 23, 2015 · Paul Gottfried · No Comments

Despite its flaws, the “publish or perish” systerm at least makes sure faculty members aren’t total deadbeats.

The Academy Then and Now

Mar 14, 2014 · Paul Gottfried · No Comments

Academic leftists used to be interested in ideas and arguments; much less so today.

What “Recruiting” Means Today

Sep 16, 2013 · Paul Gottfried · No Comments

Colleges put aside the quest for excellence in favor of candidates with the proper views and characteristics.

How Multiculturalism Transformed My College

Aug 8, 2013 · Paul Gottfried · No Comments

Elizabethtown College leaders fell head over heels for that fad and now the school is much the worse.

Did You Know? More Open Seats at Colleges This Fall Aug 6, 2020
Since COVID-19 hit, students have taken notice and altered their college plans. Some high school seniors are delaying enrollment until the pandemic has subsided, leaving universities with more openings. This year, according to data collected by Sean Mulholland, an economics professor at Western Carolina University, from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), 10 … Continue reading “Did You Know? More Open Seats at Colleges This Fall”
Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses Aug 5, 2020
Long the vanguard of liberal change, the American university now leads the appeasement of a hardened authoritarian China. The interest in promoting a broader community of scholars has given way to a toxic combination of business interests, the inability of college leaders to recognize their failure in influencing Chinese education, and their unwillingness to see … Continue reading “Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses”
Across Colleges of All Types, Student Anxiety Is a Growing Issue Aug 3, 2020
College admissions is a different field than it was 20 or even 10 years ago. High school guidance counselors still help hundreds of students make a plan for after graduation. Students still try to get into the best college they can. But they are now more cost-conscious, their families hire private college counselors, and they … Continue reading “Across Colleges of All Types, Student Anxiety Is a Growing Issue”

Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses Aug 5, 2020
Long the vanguard of liberal change, the American university now leads the appeasement of a hardened authoritarian China. The interest in promoting a broader community of scholars has given way to a toxic combination of business interests, the inability of college leaders to recognize their failure in influencing Chinese education, and their unwillingness to see … Continue reading “Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses”
UCLA’s Discrimination Office Targeting Professor Threatens Academic Freedom Jul 31, 2020
When a political science lecturer at UCLA read to his class Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and showed clips from a documentary on racism, he found himself in hot water. The reason: Both the letter and the documentary included the N-word. Many students complained, which in turn pitted UCLA against the … Continue reading “UCLA’s Discrimination Office Targeting Professor Threatens Academic Freedom”
Higher Ed Is Stoking the Flames of the War on History Jul 24, 2020
On July 4 at Mt. Rushmore, President Trump praised Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, and Louis Armstrong; it was a significant political and cultural speech, comparable to Trump’s speech extolling Western civilization at Warsaw in 2017. Trump also ordered a federal project called the Garden of National Heroes, mandating the artwork to be classical and “not … Continue reading “Higher Ed Is Stoking the Flames of the War on History”

Did You Know? More Open Seats at Colleges This Fall Aug 6, 2020
Since COVID-19 hit, students have taken notice and altered their college plans. Some high school seniors are delaying enrollment until the pandemic has subsided, leaving universities with more openings. This year, according to data collected by Sean Mulholland, an economics professor at Western Carolina University, from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), 10 … Continue reading “Did You Know? More Open Seats at Colleges This Fall”
Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses Aug 5, 2020
Long the vanguard of liberal change, the American university now leads the appeasement of a hardened authoritarian China. The interest in promoting a broader community of scholars has given way to a toxic combination of business interests, the inability of college leaders to recognize their failure in influencing Chinese education, and their unwillingness to see … Continue reading “Universities Appease China, Ignore Human Rights Abuses”
Across Colleges of All Types, Student Anxiety Is a Growing Issue Aug 3, 2020
College admissions is a different field than it was 20 or even 10 years ago. High school guidance counselors still help hundreds of students make a plan for after graduation. Students still try to get into the best college they can. But they are now more cost-conscious, their families hire private college counselors, and they … Continue reading “Across Colleges of All Types, Student Anxiety Is a Growing Issue”