City Journal Audio — "City Journal's New College Rankings"
Date: October 29, 2025
Host: Rafael Mangual
Guests: Neetu Arnold, Rainu Mukherjee
Overview
This episode dives deep into City Journal’s newly released college rankings, a project aimed at providing an alternative to legacy rankings like U.S. News and World Report and Princeton Review. Host Rafael Mangual and education analysts Neetu Arnold and Rainu Mukherjee discuss why City Journal’s approach is different, focusing on metrics such as free speech, genuine pluralism, curricular rigor, meritocracy, and the true campus experience. In candid, sometimes personal terms, the hosts probe the cultural, ideological, and policy factors shaping higher education today.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Why New College Rankings? (00:25–03:05)
- Purpose: Address declining trust in higher education, especially around two areas: cost and classroom content.
- Differentiators: City Journal’s rankings measure not just cost, but also educational quality—specifically free speech, curricular rigor, and meritocracy (01:17–01:54, Neetu).
“Traditional college rankings are able to capture the costs, but they're not measuring whether students are getting a good education. … We're looking at issues like the free speech environment, curricular rigor, meritocracy on campus.” —Neetu Arnold [01:20]
New Criteria and Surprising Outcomes (03:05–04:37)
- City Journal’s criteria capture the lived reality of campus: openness to free expression, fun/social life, and true diversity (including Greek life and the prevalence of activism).
- Surprising Rank: University of Florida tops the list, while Harvard drops to the 30s.
“Families can now evaluate what they care more about: the so-called prestigious reputation of institutions, or the actual education and experience that their children are going to get when attending a college or a university. Which is why University of Florida is number one.” —Rainu Mukherjee [03:05]
Ideological Climate & Student Experience (04:37–10:05)
- Many students, particularly conservatives and libertarians, feel outnumbered and alienated in elite college environments.
- Anecdotes: Faculty-student ideological imbalance discussed; personal experiences shared about not fitting the prevailing orthodoxy.
“They feel like they have sacrificed any real sense of community or belonging because they are chasing that sort of prestige angle.” —Rafael Mangual [04:54]
- Neetu recalls that as a resident advisor at Cornell, she felt pressure to conform and notes lack of viewpoint diversity in training and content (06:33–08:01).
Learning Outside the Classroom & Mentor Impact (10:05–12:32)
- The guests agree much of true learning (especially for conservative students) happens outside university walls, via independent study and podcasts.
- Rainu shares a pivotal experience: discovering an “underground” conservative professor who became a significant mentor (10:05–12:12).
“It was through taking his courses and going to his office hours that I was exposed to City Journal for the first time, to Heather Mac Donald, to... different Supreme Court opinions written by Justice Scalia.” —Rainu Mukherjee [11:17]
Faculty Incentives & Institutional Trust (12:32–16:12)
- Discuss lack of incentive among progressive professors to cultivate dissenting or minority viewpoints; conservative professors more likely to mentor ideologically isolated students.
- Neetu argues that declining public trust in universities will eventually pressure institutions to care more about intellectual diversity (15:01–16:12).
“If people don't trust your universities, they're not going to trust the information that's coming out of them, what you're teaching the students.” —Neetu Arnold [15:20]
The Meritocracy & DEI Debate (16:12–23:57)
- Conversation shifts to race-based admissions, SFFA Supreme Court case, and DEI’s pervasive influence.
- Neetu and Rainu, both from Indian backgrounds, reflect on being simultaneously penalized in admissions while also slotted into "DEI buckets." [18:44–21:09]
“On the one hand, being pulled into this DEI bucket as, you know, quote, in Brown Indian women. At the same time... we are penalized for being Indians, for being Asians. And so it's this very sort of... interesting dichotomy...” —Rainu Mukherjee [18:49]
- Neetu shares the insecurity of being waitlisted and how meritocracy seems subverted (22:05–23:57).
Self-Censorship and Social Pressure (23:57–31:08)
- Students routinely self-censor, fearing social and academic repercussions for ideologically nonconformist views.
- Rainu describes the intense social pressure to remain silent as a conservative woman, particularly in progressive friend groups.
“I was just, you know, terrified that if I shared my beliefs... I would be ostracized socially.” —Rainu Mukherjee [26:45]
- Neetu recalls post-2016 “cry-ins” at Cornell, and the clear double-standard regarding which students’ feelings were given space on campus (30:17–31:36).
Performative Progressivism & Cultural Paternalism (31:36–40:07)
- Rafael, Neetu, and Rainu discuss the border between real belief and performative social justice activism, including how “my culture is not your costume” rhetoric discourages genuine cross-cultural connection.
“A lot of people who aren't from my culture were getting offended on my behalf. They were speaking on my behalf, and they had not considered the other side of that story...” —Neetu Arnold [35:24]
- Rafael laments superficial forms of diversity that focus on optics rather than substantive pluralism; sports and social life offer more productive models.
Diversity: Look vs. Substance (40:07–42:42)
- Agreement that universities emphasize how communities "look" over genuine diversity of thought or experience.
“They focus on how diverse your communities look, but they don't consider the diversity of thoughts. And, and that's why I think they don't actually have true diversity.” —Neetu Arnold [40:07]
- Rainu notes the irony that the ultimate logic of campus wokeness leads to new forms of exclusion and, paradoxically, racism (41:26–42:42).
Personal Stakes for the Next Generation (42:42–47:09)
- All three speakers reflect on being parents or future parents, considering whether they would send their kids to elite schools given current trends.
- Hope that new ranking systems (like City Journal’s) will help shift the definition of "best" colleges towards those truly committed to education, viewpoint diversity, and student flourishing.
“I think by the time that our kids attend, you know, college... I really don't think that these sort of, like, legacy schools will have as much of a high standing as they do today. I think... there will be new legacy schools, hopefully informed by City Journal's systems such as the University of Florida.” —Rainu Mukherjee [45:38]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On the real meaning of diversity:
“This is diversity if what we're doing is taking a picture for the brochure. But we don't actually have any interest in real diversity and the things that make us distinct from one another.”
—Rafael Mangual [40:22] -
On being an ideological outsider:
“I think to be a conservative racial minority is probably the most unpopular position you could be in on a college campus today.”
—Rainu Mukherjee [18:44] -
On the limits of performative activism:
“Just because you go around saying that you're a good person doesn't mean you are a good person. And I just didn’t like the shaming, the sort of scolding attitude that they had on these issues.”
—Neetu Arnold [34:19] -
On hope for future college choice:
“These rankings finally give me a sense that, hey, actually, I have a little bit of guidance where I can point [my kids] in the right direction and make an informed choice that is not going to force me to choose between excellence and undermining my values as a parent.”
—Rafael Mangual [43:14]
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 00:25–03:05 - Purpose and unique elements of City Journal’s rankings
- 03:05–04:37 - Why the top 10 is surprising (University of Florida vs. Ivy Leagues)
- 06:33–08:08 - Faculty bias, social pressure, and lack of pluralism explained by Neetu
- 10:05–12:32 - The role of mentorship and learning outside the classroom
- 15:01–16:12 - Discussion of declining trust and institutional incentives
- 18:44–23:57 - DEI, meritocracy, and the minority conservative experience
- 23:57–31:36 - Self-censorship, social pressure, and post-election campus climate
- 31:36–40:07 - Performative social justice & cultural appropriation vs. appreciation
- 40:07–42:42 - Diversity as appearance vs. real intellectual pluralism; new forms of exclusion
- 42:42–47:09 - Parent perspectives—plans and hopes for future generations’ college experience
Takeaways
The City Journal episode provides an alternative, value-driven framework for evaluating American colleges—one that foregrounds genuine intellectual pluralism, free speech, personal experience, and outcome-based merit. Through a mix of institutional critique, personal narrative, and policy analysis, it calls into question both traditional ranking systems and higher ed’s current trajectory, offering hope that new, more holistic measures could help families and students make far better decisions in the future.