E. Gordon Gee, former two-time Ohio State president and current consultant, wrote an Op-Ed for Fox News. Credit: Shelby Lum | Lantern File Photo
Gordon Gee, former two-time Ohio State president and current consultant, called for American universities to set a clear education mission following three particular measures in an opinion article released Monday on Fox News.
In an essay that starts with lauding the ceasefire in Gaza, Gee goes on to call for American universities to equally fight for academic responsibility as it has for academic freedom, to train its students to be “proud, committed, informed and industrious citizens” and for academia to remove itself from “inflamed ideological convictions.”
Gee, who has a past of controversial statements that led, in part, to his dismissal from Ohio State, is no stranger to making public comments. In fact, Walter “Ted” Carter, Jr. joked that Gee will not be doing any public speaking when Carter discussed hiring him in an interview with the Lantern on Aug. 26.
It is not clear if the university leadership knew about the op-ed before it was published. University Spokesperson Chris Booker said all Ohio State employees have the ability to speak their mind.
“All university employees have free speech rights and can submit letters to the editor and guest columns without university input or review, as long as they are not speaking on behalf of the university,” Booker said.
Gee never mentioned Ohio State in his Op-Ed. He is listed as an Ohio State consultant for intellectual diversity on the Fox News website. In Ohio State’s press release announcing his one-year role, Gee as a consultant was described “as a resource for university leaders as they advance their strategic priorities.”
Op-Ed Summary
Gee began the op-ed with “The hostages are back,” referencing the recently-released Israeli hostages.
In the wake of the ceasefire in Gaza, Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were released on Oct. 13, according to the Associated Press.
“Now that a ceasefire has thankfully been achieved, and Israelis and Palestinians alike can focus on recovering and rebuilding, you would hope life would return to normal on American college campuses, too, after several years of violent demonstrations, illegal encampments and widespread chaos,” Gee said in the Op-Ed.
Gee continues to describe that this may not be the case, referencing incidents that have happened at a few different universities after the announcement of the ceasefire.
Gee said that at George Washington University, Students for Justice in Palestine — a student organization disaffiliated from the university that denounces the U.S. involvement with Israel and calls for liberation in Palestine — hosted a protest to “further grievances against the Jewish state and promise more disruption to life on campus.”
The protest Gee is referencing was held on Oct. 7, the two-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war. Students stood at their board of trustees building “demanding an end to the university’s role in the genocide, ethnic cleansing and occupation of Palestine,” according to the organizations Instagram.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war, pro-Palestine protests have taken place at universities across the country. The protests have caused controversy from space standards violations, encampments and arrested protestors.
Gee then went on to say that administrators and educators “are still doing too little to restore order and make sure that their campuses provide a welcoming and nurturing environment for all.”
Gee stands in defense of the current U.S. President, Donald J. Trump, explaining that Gee understands why Trump made American universities one of his administration’s top priorities. He described the incident at Columbia University, where the university was accused of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in filing to protect Jewish students by the Trump administration. Columbia University settled with the federal government for $200 million.
The lawsuit created a deal that allowed Columbia to keep billions of dollars in federal research money, but required the university to reform a number of areas such as admissions, campus protests policies and its curriculum, according to the AP.
“It does not take a former university president, who just concluded 45 years of service, to realize that these actions reflect a very serious problem in the way universities conduct their affairs,” Gee said.
Gee sets three measures for all universities to follow beginning with one question: what is the mission of American universities?
“If the answer is merely training a narrowing cadre of globally privileged young men and women to hold a thinning number of high-paying positions in corporations and organizations, we shouldn’t be too surprised if our universities continue to find themselves losing trust, respect, clout and applicants,” Gee said.
Gee then said that the better answer for that question is having American universities “train and challenge young Americans to be proud, committed, informed and industrious citizens of this great nation.”
While Gee said that this mission has not changed much throughout the years, universities need to take action to re-affirm it. Gee then said that while there are currently over one million foreign students attending American universities, that these universities need to balance the needs of American students and their foreign-born peers.
In his opinion, Gee writes that universities need to deliver a curriculum that delivers on history, civics and other classes that could prepare this next generation to “take its eventual place at the helm.”
For his second point, Gee said that universities must wean themselves off of “its addiction to inflamed ideological convictions,” arguing that universities hold a strong belief in one certain ideology.
“If we are truly interested in diversity — and we should be, because every study at our disposal suggests that diversity makes for greater and more meaningful achievements — we should remember that diversity is also intellectual viewpoint diversity,” Gee said.
Gee calls for campuses to become arenas for the free and unfettered exchange of ideas and for men and women to run into opinions different than their own.
Gee’s third and final point is that universities have demonstrated that they can stand up for academic freedom — but must become comfortable fighting for academic responsibility as well.
“The sights that we have seen for more than two years, coming out of some of our most celebrated schools, are appalling: deans berating and mocking students for standing up to bigotry, or university employees held hostage by playacting ‘revolutionaries,’” Gee said.
Gee ends the opinion declaring that none of the above can be tolerated any longer on any American campus. He asks for colleges and universities to ask themselves whether they can deliver appropriate protections and have a plan to meet academic responsibilities.
“None of these steps, to be sure, are easy. All are essential,” Gee said. “As anyone truly dedicated to education will tell you, it is in moments of great crisis that great opportunities usually arise. Ours is at hand. Let us not squander it.”
