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‘Use the university in every way, shape, and form,’ he said
A Villanova University professor called academia a “Trojan horse” to advance socialist politics during a Saturday Zoom event “celebrating” a political scientist known for his Marxist writings.
“Use the university in every way, shape, and form that we can to advance our cause,” professor Gabriel Rockhill said during the event called “Celebrating the Revolutionary Contributions of Michael Parenti.”
“We need to go in a socialist direction” to achieve an “intellectual apparatus” like the ones in Cuba and China, “because then we’ll have the real state power necessary to fully educate the people,” he said.
He also suggested developing “counterhegemonic institutions of education” where people can educate themselves outside of the university, citing the International Manifesto Group, which organized the event, as an example.
In response to a video of Rockhill’s remarks posted on X, American Council of Trustees & Alumni fellow Steven McGuire called for the university to investigate the professor.
“It probably won’t happen, but Villanova should investigate this guy. Like all members of the faculty, he has a contractual obligation to support — and not subvert — the mission of the university,” McGuire wrote.
Rockhill is a philosophy and global interdisciplinary studies professor at Villanova. He is also the founding director of a nonprofit called Critical Theory Workshop, which aims to provide a “platform for international scholarship invested in social justice,” according to its website.
Another professor advocated for an alternative to capitalism during an Arizona State University event this month, The College Fix reported.
Capitalism “did its job … but as you look at the emerging future, it doesn’t fit anymore,” University of Houston professor Andy Hines said during the event titled “Imagining After Capitalism.”
He advocated for “redistribution” and a future in which people no longer need traditional jobs to survive or access society’s resources.
This comes as a recent poll revealed that college students are increasingly favorable toward socialism.
Axios and The Generation Lab found that 67% of U.S. college students hold a positive or neutral view of “socialism,” compared to just 40% for “capitalism,” The Fix reported.
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