Trump Said He Would ‘End’ Political Correctness on Campuses. Could a President Do That?

Alexander Holt was quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education about how Donald Trump might go about ending political correctness on college campuses:

Another possibility is that Mr. Trump, who has denied a string of sexual-assault allegations against him and dismissed his own sexually aggressive remarks as "locker-room talk," would use the Education Department to hammer colleges that he believes are creating hostile environments for students and professors who feel, as he put it, "viciously" attacked or "silenced" by the P.C. police.

"The Obama administration has set a precedent that you can use these really squishy executive maneuvers to tell colleges how to act," said Alexander Holt, an education-policy analyst at New America.

The Education Department used a "Dear Colleague" letter, a guidance document not subject to notice and comment, to dictate federal rules on Title IX compliance, said Mr. Holt. Colleges had to comply to avoid risking costly investigations that might conclude with the federal government branding them as hostile environments for women. That tactic, he said, could hold appeal for Mr. Trump, who is known for his blunt-force litigiousness and admiration of political strongmen.

"I could see a Trump administration going crazy on these ‘Dear Colleague’ letters," said Mr. Holt.

Mr. Holt referred to "The Coddling of the American Mind," an essay by Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and Jonathan Haidt, a professor of ethical leadership at New York University’s school of business, which The Atlantic published last year.