The pursuit of truth has frequently been seen as the central goal of the academy. Proclaimed by Harvard in its motto 'Veritas'. But there are a growing number of professors and university presidents who claim this has been undermined by institutional group think. They are supported by surveys showing a quarter of academics endorse the ousting of a colleague for having the 'wrong' opinion. In response, leading figures including Steven Pinker, Jonathan Haidt and Kathleen Stock, have set up a new institution, the University of Austin, to create a school that encourages all enquiry.
Should we root out intolerance from our campuses to create an imaginative and exploratory culture? Or is contemporary university culture alive and well and these criticisms the misguided prejudices of a conventional liberal elite who have not understood that the world has moved on? Or is the institutional row itself the consequence of the end of our belief in truth in the first place and no amount of railing against it will bring it back?