City Journal Audio: "American Universities, Two Years After October 7"
Podcast Host: Rafael Mangual (Manhattan Institute)
Date: October 7, 2025
Panelists: Adam Lahote, Stu Smith, Nitu Arnold

Episode Overview

This episode marks the second anniversary of the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel—a pivotal event not only for Israel but for American society, particularly its universities. Host Rafael Mangual and panelists Adam Lahote, Stu Smith, and Nitu Arnold delve into the aftermath and legacy of October 7 on American higher education, exploring universities' responses, internal ideological shifts, free speech challenges, federal policy, and the struggle over academic missions and leadership in an era of campus upheaval.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Immediate Reactions to October 7 and Campus Responses

• Shock and Distress: Panelists describe the horror of watching events unfold ("I remember feeling sick to my stomach when I saw the gliders on the news..." —Nitu, [02:09]).

• Lack of Moral Clarity: Universities quickly found themselves criticized for their silence or ambiguous statements on the Hamas attack, contrasting their willingness to publicly comment on other political or social events (George Floyd, Ukraine war) ([02:09]).

  "But when it came to Hamas attacking Israel and the people there, they had nothing to say. And I think that made it very clear to the public how far gone our universities had become."
  — Nitu Arnold [02:38]

2. Campus Radicalism and Ideological Alignments

• Preconfigured Narratives: Panelists note a rapid, almost reflexive alignment with the Palestinian cause among activist students, rooted less in direct commonality with Hamas and more in anti-Western, "decolonial" academic ideologies ([03:10], [04:58]).

• Faculty Influence: Student activism is often supported, if not instigated, by radical faculty members, sometimes openly hostile to their own institutions ([15:14], [17:26]).

  "You have professors who are very open that they are hostile to the universities where they teach... you will have professors say, well, we think the university should be helping everyone in the public outside of the university and no longer focusing on their mission of students, academic excellence, innovation, and it's a massive problem."
  — Stu Smith [17:26]

3. The Inflection Point: Congressional Hearings

• Presidential Floundering: The congressional hearings with Ivy League presidents became a national spectacle, exposing campus leaders' inability (or unwillingness) to take principled stands against calls for violence or antisemitism ([06:53]).
• Public Awakening: These hearings are seen as the "straw that broke the camel's back," focusing national attention on campus dysfunction ([04:58], [08:33]).

4. Nature and Impact of Campus Protests

• Minority Disruption, Major Impact: Adam, as a Columbia student during the protests, describes a small, highly organized group of radicals driving outsized disruptions, supported at times by outside agitators ([08:33], [10:26]).

• Jewish Students’ Experience: Jewish students felt unprotected and unheard, especially amid aggressive rhetoric and disruptions ([10:26]).

  "After a couple of weeks, they closed the school gates. And what we realized is that a lot of the people who'd been on campus protesting weren't even students or weren't even enrolled at Columbia."
  — Adam Lahote [10:34]

5. Accountability & Federal Intervention

• Targeted vs. Blanket Reform: Nitu argues for focused, procedural reforms (e.g., addressing discriminatory scholarships) rather than sweeping ideological purges ([12:32]).

• Universities and Public Money: With colleges reliant on government support, panelists discuss the right (and the responsibility) of the government and taxpayers to attach conditions or enforce accountability ([28:23], [30:14]).

  "These are basically hedge funds, you know, that have occasional study halls. They receive a great deal of taxpayer money in the form of different subsidies and grants. And I, as a taxpayer feel like it's not crazy for me to want to have a say in how my money gets spent and what causes my money goes toward advancing."
  — Rafael Mangual [28:23]

• Academic Freedom vs. Oversight: Discussion balances the historical legacy and value of American universities against their current dysfunction, weighing whether federal intervention risks destroying their best elements ([25:10], [31:40]).

6. Radical Departments and Mission Drift

• Activist Departments: Panelists differentiate between departments seen as doing valuable work (STEM) and those accused of producing "noxious" ideological activism (some social science, humanities, and ethnic studies) ([22:44], [26:37]).

• Collateral Damage: Good departments suffer reputationally and operationally from activist-driven controversies ([32:24]).

  "The fringe departments, the activist departments, are making a bad name for all the other departments... when you have so many of the public that has their pitchforks at the universities and they want to see them burned down, they need to address how activist departments are making it harder for the good work being done."
  — Nitu Arnold [32:24]

7. Defining the Mission: Knowledge vs. Activism

• Restoring Purpose: Panelists stress re-centering universities on their core mission—advancing knowledge, not producing activists ([34:07], [34:57]).
• Critique of "Activist" Admissions/Teaching: The panel critiques admissions and teaching models that prioritize activism over learning; Rafael paraphrases Heather Mac Donald: "Students should be seen and not heard" ([34:57]).
• Education Model: Stu highlights Paulo Freire-influenced pedagogy as symptomatic of the anti-hierarchical turn, sometimes resulting in classrooms without real instruction ([36:27]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Judith Butler said that Hamas was a progressive force. How she makes that mental gymnastics is completely beyond me, but they will and they do.”
  — Stu Smith [04:58]

• “These university presidents couldn’t bring themselves to express the moral clarity that... you mentioned.”
  — Rafael Mangual [06:53]

• “Universities are so valuable, that we should care about accountability, that they are held to the highest standards, that they value rigor.”
  — Nitu Arnold [12:32]

• "I was there. There was a lot of disruption. But one of the things I observed is that it was driven by a very small share of the students that had a very disproportionate impact...”
  — Adam Lahote [08:33]

• “If they need my money to do it, I should have some representation with respect to how those universities are behaving and using my money... they seem to want to have their cake and eat it too.”
  — Rafael Mangual [28:23]

• "Good departments are making it so much harder for them to operate because activist departments are making a bad name for all the other departments... they need to address how activist departments are making it harder for the good work being done."
  — Nitu Arnold [32:24]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening reflections, context, and initial reactions: [00:09] – [04:58]
• Panel on ideological alignments, faculty roles: [04:58] – [08:33]
• Campus protest dynamics, Columbia experience: [08:33] – [12:32]
• Discussion: University accountability and federal intervention: [12:32] – [17:26]
• Faculty radicalism and administrative challenges: [17:26] – [22:21]
• Ideological balance, departmental diversity: [22:21] – [26:37]
• Public funding, taxpayer role, Hillsdale College model: [28:23] – [31:40]
• Enforcement, collateral damage to good departments: [32:24] – [34:07]
• Restoring academic mission, student activism critique: [34:57] – [37:25]

Closing Reflection

The panel ends by contemplating whether America’s storied universities can course-correct or if their dysfunction is too deep-rooted. They warn of bad actors imposing costs on the rest of academia and urge a recovery of the university’s core mission. The episode concludes with a plug for continued public debate and a recommendation to watch the Coleman Hughes–Dave Smith debate as an example of much-needed intellectual clarity.

Summary prepared for listeners who want a comprehensive and engaging overview without having to hear the full episode.