The quality, scope and reputation of public higher education in Arkansas are taking hits under sustained attacks from powerful conservatives hurling accusations of left-wing indoctrination. During this month’s fiscal legislative session, Republican lawmakers accomplished a goal they’d been chasing for a couple of years now, threatening to withhold funding to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock unless they killed off their gender studies concentration. That’s just the latest example of conservatives using the power of the purse to reshape public institutions of higher education. Those institutions capitulate to lawmakers’ demands out of fear; wash, rinse and repeat. #placement_713713_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;} We’ve decided...