Sure, Elon Musk bought the most important social media platform for sociopolitical discussion in the West and made it a haven for free speech — but if that speech is just regurgitated out of the mouths of those who have been through the leftist propaganda mill of Western public schools and elite universities, that hardly does much to guarantee the freedom of thought.
Musk apparently thinks along the same lines, which is why “Musk University” might indeed be a thing sometime in the not-too-distant future.
According to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg, one of Musk’s charities has filed forms with the IRS to start an educational institution in Austin, Texas — the billionaire’s new home after abandoning California.
While it will start with a primary and secondary school focused on STEM education, the unnamed institution “intends ultimately to expand its operations to create a university dedicated to education at the highest levels,” the filing from the charity, called The Foundation, reads.
The filing — which was just recently obtained, although it was filed over a year ago in October 2022 and approved in March — is “seeded with a roughly $100 million gift from Musk,” Bloomberg reported.
“The university will employ ‘experienced faculty’ and feature a traditional curriculum ‘alongside hands-on learning experience including simulations, case studies, fabrication/design projects and labs,’ according to the application.”
“This isn’t the first time Musk, 52, has started a school or expressed interest in opening a university,” Bloomberg added.
“About a decade ago, the Tesla Inc. co-founder created Ad Astra on SpaceX’s California campus for his five kids and a few children of his space company’s employees. When Musk moved to Texas in 2020, the school also moved.”
It also won’t be the only experiment in non-woke education in Austin, an emerging tech and education hub.
Would you send your kids to a school like this?
While the University of Texas at Austin has been around since 1883, the new University of Austin — which has been called “anti-woke” by the media and which touts itself as an alternative to the “illiberalism” of the educational mainstream — plans a fall intake of 100 students in 2024.
“The reality is that many universities no longer have an incentive to create an environment where intellectual dissent is protected and fashionable opinions are scrutinized,” said university president Pano Kanelos when he announced the institution’s founding in 2021 via former New York Times writer Bari Weiss’ Substack.
“At our most prestigious schools, the primary incentive is to function as finishing school for the national and global elite. Amidst the brick and ivy, these students entertain ever-more-inaccessible theories while often just blocks away their neighbors figure out how to scratch out a living. “
Musk’s university will come from one of the most vociferous critics of higher education — and be focused on STEM, to boot.
Brilliantly said https://t.co/Nd6bZBZzK2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2023
SpaceX and Tesla have noticed a meaningful degradation in the capability of US college graduates over the past several years
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2023
At college, I learned super important knowledge, like uhh … 🤔 pic.twitter.com/TI00OcTwEG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2023
He’s also lamented the affirmative action on college campuses, particularly admittance discrimination against Asian students:
The left hates Asians
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2023
All of that is why the conservative social media account End Wokeness said, “This is exactly what our country needs.”
“Real education, not woke indoctrination,” they said in a post. “This is how you save the empire.”
BREAKING: Elon Musk is creating his own university in Austin, Texas.
Musk is starting with an elementary and high school focused on STEM, which will slowly expand into a massive university.
This is exactly what our country needs. Real education, not woke indoctrination. This is… pic.twitter.com/FdRy290hOl
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) December 13, 2023
They’re not wrong. Free speech is meaningless if most people are taught to aim their torches and pitchforks at anyone with heterodox views.
One college may be a small start, but it’s still a start — and proof that Musk wasn’t planning on stopping at saving X/Twitter from its own censoriousness.
