STURGE: Colleges are teaching Gen Z to love socialism

If you walk onto a college campus today, you’ll see glossy posters and trendy buttons with the slogans “Capitalism is theft” and “Eat the rich.” In lecture halls, students can quote Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, but if you ask them about the Constitution, you’ll get blank stares. 

This November election cycle, communist-loving culture isn’t staying on campus. Young Americans are taking that ideology straight to the ballot box.

An October Quinnipiac poll found that self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani commands 62% of the vote among 18 to 34-year-olds in his bid for New York City mayor. But it’s not just in New York. Campus Reform previously reported a survey that found the same number—62% of young Americans nationwide—say they view socialism favorably. 

We’re looking at the real-world results of our higher education system indoctrinating young minds. Across America, universities are serving up a sugar-coated view of socialism and communism. Meanwhile, capitalism is demonized and portrayed as oppressive. 

After four years of hearing my own college professors advocate to “abolish billionaires” and “redistribute the wealth,” I’m not shocked to see my Generation Z peers fall for Mamdani’s proposed rent freezes, city-run grocery stores, free buses, and free childcare. Young people have been brainwashed into having a more favorable view of free stuff than free markets and individual liberty.

Just take a look at these college courses. 

At Williams College in Massachusetts, the course “Introduction to Capitalism” aims to teach students to “understand, and potentially change, capitalism.” It defines capitalism as a system of “class struggle” that can “leave the poor threatened by starvation and workers exposed to exploitation.”

The University of Maine offers a “Marxist and Socialist Studies” minor that encourages students to “challenge” capitalism and “look at the world from a variety of Marxist and Socialist perspectives.” 

Harvard University offered the course “Marx at the Mall: Consumer Culture and its Critics,” which blames capitalism and consumerism for climate change. 

“In response to climate change, some experts suggest the key to our survival is curbing mass consumption and working toward a ‘no-growth’ economic model,” the course description says. Ironically, the sticker price for Harvard is $86,926 for the 2025-2026 academic year. 

[RELATED: Socialist Mamdani supporters do not understand that ‘nothing is free’: WATCH]

It’s not just in the classroom. Radical leftist groups like Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) have also gained traction with over 100 recognized campus chapters and thousands of student members. 

At Northeastern University, one YDSA chapter presentation taught students, “Capitalism creates inequality,” before selling the idea that “democratic socialism is about broadening freedom and democracy.” 

Screenshots obtained by Campus Reform from @neu_ydsa on Instagram. 

And across the country, universities commemorate communist dictators like they’re saints. 

The University of Florida named a study space after Karl Marx. The University of California San Diego named a campus café after Marxist Argentinian dictator Che Guevara. Syracuse University honored radical left-wing figures like Che Guevara and Black nationalist Malcolm X with mural artwork on campus.

When professors celebrate dictators as heroes and job creators as villains, it’s no wonder my generation is confused. It’s an educational failure. 

The rise of pro-socialist sentiment among young people is a symptom of a deeper failure: an education system that refuses to teach history honestly. Instead of critical thinking, students are spoon-fed narratives that sanitize socialism and omit the suffering it caused. Professors romanticize socialism as compassion, and students absorb it all without ever learning that communism in practice has killed more than 100 million people through starvation, repression, and violence.

[RELATED: University of Florida names study room after Karl Marx]

Students chant “eat the rich” while sipping $8 lattes on their parents’ dime. They call for “free healthcare” while covered under their parents’ insurance. They denounce “capitalist greed” while majoring in marketing and applying for jobs at Amazon.

Meanwhile, capitalism, also known as the economic system that built their iPhones and delivers their DoorDash, is portrayed as evil.

If America wants to reverse this trend, we must reclaim the classroom. That means teaching the truth about socialism and the proven success of free markets, entrepreneurship, and individual liberty. Students should learn that capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty while socialism has plunged populations into misery. 

The impacts extend far beyond academia. When 62% of young people cheer a socialist running to lead the financial capital of the world, it’s clear the classroom is shaping the ballot box.

The future of freedom depends on whether young Americans are taught to learn from history or repeat it.

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Editorials and op-eds reflect the opinion of the authors and not necessarily that of Campus Reform or the Leadership Institute.