The Activists Graduate—and Influence Everything

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National Association of Scholars President Peter Wood has penned a sharp piece for Minding the Campus, “They Drop the Chants but Miss the Canon.” It’s his response to Kenin M. Spivak’s RealClear Politics article, “Columbia’s Progressive March.” Spivak contends that Columbia University’s left-leaning ceremonies and administration are largely performative, noting that most students pursue conventional majors and career paths, suggesting that the ideological drift might be short-lived.

Wood agrees, writing:

Their years spent in close company with radicalized fellow students and woke faculty may have given the majority no more than a veneer of sympathy with the social justice agenda, and life will wear that veneer away pretty quickly.

But he sees a deeper issue. Even if activism fades, Columbia’s graduates leave with glaring educational gaps.

Wood, who’s interviewed and hired Columbia grads, notes their regret over the Core Curriculum’s disconnect from their broader studies. Most lack a solid grounding in American, Western, or ancient history; have only a shallow grasp of literature, philosophy, and the arts; and are generally unfamiliar with science or foreign languages, unless they have majored in these subjects. Drawing from his own 1970s Haverford education, Wood admits,

I was ignorant of many things that a graduate of a good liberal arts college should know …. I knew something about the symphonies of Mahler, but not those of Beethoven. I had read with care works by Mann and Kafka, but nothing by Goethe.

I share Wood’s outlook.

Reflecting on my education at the University of Southern Mississippi, a comparatively moderate institution, I recognize significant gaps in my historical knowledge, since the curriculum framed history primarily through an oppressed-versus-oppressor narrative, emphasizing slavery and what professors termed Native American genocide.

Notably absent were discussions of the Christian arguments for abolition and the complex intertribal conflicts among Natives prior to European contact.

We studied the American Revolution, but not deeply enough to understand its battles, strategies, or founding principles. Military history was brushed aside in favor of discussions about colonial class divisions and the Founders’ “hypocrisy” in declaring all men equal while owning slaves.

Now, anytime I write for Minding the Campus’s American Revolution series, I spend hours researching what should have been foundational knowledge: key battles, major documents, and the philosophy of the Founders. We read books like The Shoemaker and the Tea Party, which told the story of the Revolution from the perspective of an ordinary colonist. That was interesting, but it did not cover the intellectual and political leadership that defined the era. We had some Gordon Wood, but his work was mostly mocked.

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In my economic history course, I never encountered Milton Friedman or Thomas Sowell. Instead, we read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond, which portrays landlords almost entirely in a negative light and frames eviction primarily as a systemic injustice. Little attention was given to tenant behavior—such as poor financial choices or drug use—that can also contribute to housing instability. While the book didn’t turn me into an anti-landlord activist—though I do support banning hedge funds from buying up homes—without strong critical thinking skills, I might have walked away believing that every hardship stems from structural forces—and never from personal responsibility.

Wood finds some hope in Spivak’s suggestion that Columbia graduates may shed their ideological leanings over time. However, I’m less convinced of Spivak’s perspective.

As an elite institution, Columbia sends its graduates into influential roles across society, positions where they often carry the ideological habits they absorbed during their time on campus. (I recently wrote about how campus censorship shapes graduates long after college, leading many to self-censor in professional life.

Recent trends suggest that the activism fostered in universities does not dissipate upon graduation but is instead amplified in professional settings. Companies such as Disney, Bud Light, and Target have all adopted leftist crusades, arguably influenced by hiring graduates who were immersed in leftist ideologies during their education. While Spivak notes that the majority of Columbia students pursue conventional majors, this—even if true—overlooks the disproportionate influence of a smaller cohort of graduates from disciplines such as theater, journalism, English, and political science—fields where leftist ideologies are often most pronounced. These graduates often enter sectors such as journalism, publishing, and entertainment, where they wield significant cultural influence. Think Disney, NBC, Apple, CBS, Warner Bros., and Netflix.

For example, a 2018 episode of the Muppet Babies reboot promotes transgender ideology through a retelling of Cinderella. Gonzo, a male character, wishes to attend a royal ball in a dress, despite a rule stating boys must dress as knights. Aided by the “Fairy Rat-Father,” Gonzo attends as “Gonzo-rella” in a dress and mask. After revealing his identity, Gonzo explains he hid his choice because others expected him to conform to traditional gender norms.

The episode received criticism for encouraging young viewers to embrace gender nonconformity. The series’ primary writer? Eric Shaw, a Columbia graduate with a BA in political science.

Consequently, I find Spivak’s optimism—that most graduates will outgrow their ideological commitments—overly hopeful. These beliefs aren’t just unlikely to fade; graduates often rise to influential roles where they can actively reshape American culture through their activist agendas.

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Image: “Photopuppet Gonzo with pomelo Ernie and Bert in the background” by Joel on Flickr