For more than 25 years, conservative writers have been 
    telling anyone who would listen that our higher education 
    system was broken - that indoctrination was trumping 
    education and our kids were throwing away their tuition 
    dollars propping up vicious relics of the '60s and 
    supporting universities that were increasingly repressive.
    These words, coming from such luminaries as Allan Bloom, 
    Dinesh D'Souza, Alan Charles Kors and David Horowitz, 
    persuaded much of the conservative chattering class that 
    something was wrong. But mainstream Americans seemed 
    unconcerned, with their own (often fond) college memories 
    drowning out even the most eloquent cries for reform. 

    Enter Ward Churchill.

    That will be Ward Churchill's lasting legacy. He was the 
    tipping point. Now, it's not just leading conservatives 
    who view the academy as an out-of-control, disconnected 
    bastion of petulant entitlement. In a recent Zogby poll, 
    58 percent of Americans reported that they now believe 
    that political bias of professors is a "serious problem." 
    Even more, 65 percent, viewed non-tenured professors as 
    more motivated to do a good job in the classroom. 

    These are not isolated findings. A survey by the American 
    Association of University Professors found that 58.4 
    percent of Americans had only some or no confidence in our
    colleges and that 82 percent want to modify or eliminate 
    tenure.