Once upon a time in America, our colleges and universities were the envy of the world.
They were forums for freedom of speech and other forms of freedom, too. Foreign students flocked to our college campuses to see democracy in action and pursue knowledge that would prepare them for useful, productive lives in their native lands.
 But that was then and this is now. Although our institutions of higher learning continue to attract students foreign and domestic, they do so despite a college culture that is becoming more and more oppressive when it comes to political correctness.
So, if you think your sons and daughters are getting a quality education at their chosen college or university, it should surprise and shock you to learn that, instead of being educated, they are all too often being indoctrinated at the altar of political correctness. That’s bad for them, bad for you, and very bad for democracy.
Sure, political correctness has been around for decades. However, the new political correctness is more corrosive to college education than ever. According to an article aptly titled “The Coddling of the American Mind,” in the September 2015 edition of The Atlantic, “During the  2014-15 school year, the deans and department chairs at the 10 University of California system schools were presented by administrators at faculty leader-training sessions with examples of microaggressions,” defined as “small actions or word choices that seem on their face to have no malicious intent but that are thought as a kind of violence nonetheless.”
Incredibly, the list of so-called “offensive statements” included: “America is the land of opportunity” and “I believe the most qualified person should get the job.” In my view, only a thin-skinned imbecile could be offended by those comments.
According to some campus guidelines, “It is a microaggression to ask an Asian American or Latino American ‘Where were you born?’  because this implies that he or she is not a real American.”
 The new political correctness guidelines being preached and practiced in our colleges and universities around the nation are a direct assault on our First Amendment freedoms. They stifle serious debate and discussion on timely and timeless issues that deserve weighing and considering.
As Thomas Jefferson famously said upon founding the University of Virginia in 1819, “This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”
What was good for Jefferson and his beloved university should be great for our colleges and universities in the 21st Century and beyond. The major threat to that greatness is the new political correctness that is corroding college education. I’ll have more commentary later on its pernicious effects.
Meanwhile, I commend “The Coddling of the American Mind” to anyone who cares about the damage the new political correctness is inflicting on higher education in America.
Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached at tbvbwmi@blomand.net.