A few years ago, when I was still a classics lecturer, I started to notice a disturbing trend. Scholars were being denounced on Twitter (RIP) for wrongthink. Scholarly associations put out asinine statements uncritically aligning themselves with the latest political trends. Papers were retracted, books withdrawn from publication, and visiting speakers deplatformed.

As a young, idealistic academic, I saw an opportunity to clarify values that I assumed most academics held sacred – values such as rationality, civility, and an emphasis on evidence. In 2015 Heterodox Academy, a worldwide association of academics, was founded to defend those same ideals. A couple of years later, I became the coordinator for its classics chapter.    

My experience was sobering. Professors wrote me emails saying they supported what I was doing but asking me not to put their name on anything. Others agreed to endorse open letters defending under-fire colleagues – but only anonymously. Inevitably, the group eventually ran out of steam. 

I wasn’t the only academic who took up the banner of ‘heterodoxy’ in those years. Dozens of academics spoke up about their experiences.  Meticulous studies were conducted showing that English-speaking universities really did have problems to do with free speech and viewpoint diversity. Through it all, we reformers stressed to colleagues that if we didn’t put our own house in order, sooner or later, somebody else would.  

Those years represented a window of opportunity – let’s call it the ‘heterodox hiatus’ – for universities to actively engage with efforts at reform. With a few honourable exceptions, most university leaders wasted that chance. Academics who were only trying to help their institutions flourish were ostracised, smeared as ‘far-right,’ or even driven out of their jobs.  

That window of opportunity is now closing. In the US, President Trump has issued an immediate ban on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) activities on federally-funded programmes – including at universities. Here in New Zealand, prestigious Marsden grants will no longer be awarded in the humanities and social sciences.  

As a humanist, I deplore that decision. But considering the number of substandard and flagrantly partisan projects receiving thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money, it was probably inevitable.  

The backlash is now well and truly upon us. In some quarters (especially in the US) it will be excessive, threatening the very values (like academic freedom) it is meant to protect. 

That too, I deplore. But the universities have to bear part of the blame.