Quote

Academics act like they are important, but when something is academic it is meaningless. People say, 'It's academic, now let's get work done.'

My hope is that we would begin to have a dialogue in this country about the importance of civility. We can have strong differences, but it does seem to me that most of the country believes it's gone to critical mass in what I would call the professional class across the political spectrum - left and right.

Just what is it that academics have to fear if they stand up for common decency, instead of letting campus barbarians run amok?

If we are to have such a discipline we must have standards, and to get our standards under existing conditions we must have criticism.

Some people are academically inclined, some vocationally and we shouldn't penalise the latter.

Let's not be afraid to speak the common sense truth: you can't have high standards without good discipline.

We cannot give our students all that they expect, whether by way of the quality of their schooling or by way of the jobs that they were hoping to get. Student frustration is a worldwide phenomenon, pushing our societies into adjusting faster than they are used to.

Civility is perhaps a quaint notion but civility in Parliament is something we should always strive to uphold.

The goal of higher education should be to champion the airing of all honest viewpoints. Nothing less is acceptable.