Cornerstone President Warns American Universities Are “Morally Bankrupting Our Future”
Nearly half of American college students believe physical violence is justified to stop hate speech.
In a national Fox News Digital interview, Cornerstone University President Gerson Moreno-Riaño condemned the failure of American higher education to form students morally and warned of the consequences for the nation’s future.
That same day, Kayleigh McEnany, former White House press secretary and co-host of Fox News Channel’s nationally televised Outnumbered, featured the Buckley Institute survey and Moreno-Riaño’s video remarks condemning universities’ abandonment of moral formation. His comments served as a lead-in to a broader panel discussion on resentment and ideological indoctrination among college students. The panel also referenced the assassination of Charlie Kirk while engaging students in debate on a college campus.
In the original Fox News Digital interview, Moreno-Riaño responded to the Buckley Institute’s 2026 National Undergraduate Student Survey, which found that 45% of undergraduates believe violence can be justified to stop hate speech.
“American colleges and universities for a long time now have ceased to form students morally and are teaching resentment, teaching grievance politics, teaching violent entitlement,” President Moreno-Riaño told Fox News Digital.
He described American higher education as increasingly godless, warning that the absence of a moral foundation has left universities vulnerable to ideological indoctrination, including communism, Marxist ideologies, and socialism. He condemned the failure to teach students the historical evils of these ideologies as both moral and academic bankruptcy.
President Moreno-Riaño said entitlement and resentment are among the reasons many employers are questioning the value of a college degree and sees a growing sentiment:
“Many employers are saying, maybe we should train our own people, or maybe we should go into the high schools directly and educate the future at the high school level and forget colleges altogether, because colleges are morally bankrupting our future,” Moreno-Riaño said.
His warning also extends to artificial intelligence and the danger of intellectual ability without moral formation urging “a sharp mind without a moral compass is a weapon looking for a target”
President Moreno-Riano asserts, “For a democracy, we need individuals who can reason, who can deliberate, who can speak with those with whom they disagree and not seek violent action against them, but think deeply about what they’re saying, reconsider positions, pursue what is good and with courage.”
Read the Full Fox News Digital Interview and Watch the Video
Fox News Digital | October 21, 2026
Cornerstone University addresses these challenges through its distinctive Cornerstone Core™, preparing graduates with a Christ-centered moral foundation, the wisdom of the American experience and marketplace intelligence applied with Biblically grounded sound judgment and moral courage. Explore the Cornerstone Core™ or contact admissions@cornerstone.edu.
