The 'Professors' Are Not the Enemy

At the National Conservative Conference in 2021, now-Vice President J. D. Vance gave his take on "professors" in broad and highly negative strokes. He said this:

"The professors are the enemy" (quoting past president Richard Nixon on this point).

Source: RDNE Stock project/Pexels

I have to say, there are many concerns that one might have regarding this stance. These concerns include the hypocrisy of the statement, the off-base idea that all professors can be lumped into one pile, the way it ignores the positive impact that professors make on this world, and the importance of showing appreciation for professors and teachers in general who may have positively shaped your life along your life path.

The Hypocrisy of Top Elected Officials Being Anti-Higher Education

Only nine presidents of the United States have not been college-educated. Further, U.S. presidents have tended to attend and graduate from some of the top universities in the world.

• Donald Trump received a degree in business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
• Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler all attended the College of William and Mary.
• Six presidents hold degrees from Harvard.

The list goes on. Vance himself, whose commentary on higher education prompted this piece, graduated from two top-end universities: Ohio State University and Yale University.

Not All Professors Are the Same

Outgroup homogeneity exists when people identify a group of people they deem as "other" than themselves and view people in that group as "all the same" (see: Haslam, Oakes, Turner, & McGarty, 1996). For example, people from one country might consider people from another country as "all the same." People from one part of the country (e.g., the northern U.S.) might see people from another part of the country (e.g., the Deep South) as varying little from one another. People in one professional field (e.g., law) might view people in a different professional field (e.g., highway maintenance) as "all the same."

It is not too difficult to see how this bias leads to problematic social situations and prejudice. When people from one group see people from another group as "all the same," they see straight past people's individuality and make assumptions based on this bias that "all people from groups other than my own are pretty much the same as one another."

When Vance commented on "professors," as if the several million of us around the world are all to be treated as one entity, Vance provided an exemplary case of outgroup homogeneity.

To say that all professors are "the same" is an inaccurate and dangerous position to disseminate and hold onto.

Sure, while professors on average have been found to be politically left-leaning, there remains an extraordinary amount of ideological variability among professors (Geher et al., 2020).

Some professors (e.g., in mechanical engineering) work to solve issues of how to manufacture better products for human use, with the ultimate goal of creating a better world for people. Their work has helped to make advances in the fields of aviation, automobiles, and robotics industries.

Some professors teach and do research in the field of microbiology, making advances in our fights against such diseases as cancer, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, COVID-19, measles, and the flu.

Examples of professors helping to develop products that cultivate the broader human condition are voluminous.

Critical Achievements of Professors Who Have Made the World a Better Place

Over human history, professors have been responsible for a staggering number of famous achievements.

• Marie Curie's work on the science of radioactivity led to her receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She was a professor of physics at the Sorbonne in France.
• Albert Einstein, who famously discovered the theory of relativity, helping to explain the nature of the universe, served as a professor at the University of Zurich.
• Professor James Halpern, founder of my own school's (SUNY New Paltz's) Institute for Disaster Mental Health, worked to help develop an entirely new field of endeavor, Disaster Mental Health, on the heels of the events of September 11.
• Jonas Salk, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, played a lead role in the development of the polio vaccine, saving millions of human lives.

To think that the work of professors should somehow be discounted as unimportant—and to see professors as "the enemy"—is deeply disrespectful to so many.

It Is Never Too Early to Acknowledge Teacher Appreciation Week

Each year, the National Education Association leads National Teacher Appreciation Week. As a teacher (which is a subset of my work as a professor), I value the effort expended by the teachers who have set me up to be here today. I don't always wait until early May to express my appreciation to those whose efforts have gotten me to where I am today.

Toward this end:

• I thank my high school wrestling coach, who worked hours on end for decades to help teach me (along with thousands of others) the values of hard work, teamwork, and respect.
• I thank my research mentor at the University of Connecticut who taught me how to conduct behavioral science research.
• I thank my advisers in graduate school at the University of New Hampshire who trained me intensively in the scientific process and helped develop my writing and broader communication skills substantially.
• I thank professors I have been fortunate to know during my years a junior faculty member for mentoring me and for helping to shape the professor I am today.

Education Essential Reads

What Presidents Read

When School Feels Like Home

If you have had teachers who helped you get to where you are today, whatever your lot in life, including if you are the Vice President of the United States, I suggest you contact these folks and simply say this: Thank you.

The Bottom Line

When the (highly educated) vice president talks about professors as "the enemy," red flags show up all over the place. If professors, who deliver the primary product of any university, are "the enemy," then why did Vice President Vance get not one, but TWO degrees within higher education? The hypocrisy is, to my mind, alarming.

No doubt Mr. Vance had professors who helped him along the way and who helped him achieve what he has achieved to this point in his life. Perhaps instead of referring to those professors who worked tirelessly to help educate him in the nature of politics and world affairs, setting him up for his current position, as "the enemy," maybe he should reach out to them and demonstrate some gratitude.

In Vice President Vance’s words: Have you said ‘thank you?’