The protests that have struck many college campuses over the last few months have been a disturbing spectacle. The exaggerated “demands” of student activists and the groveling of many administrators and some faculty reflect an institutional culture that is, at best, ambivalent about traditional activities of teaching and learning. Rod Dreher and many other bloggers have discussed specific examples: a more comprehensive list can be found here.

But things are not quite as bad as outsiders to academia imagine. One reason is that the byzantine structure of academic governance makes it difficult to change anything, let alone impose the sweeping mandates that the protestors have in mind. At many universities, administrators seem to be counting on this tendency toward inertia to rescue them from keeping their own promises.

Take Emory, which Rod discussed here. In response to a demand for mandatory reporting of professors’ alleged racism, the Emory administration issued the following statement:

Modifications to the course evaluation form are a core component of faculty governance in each school/college.

Each academic Dean will be asked to establish a process in the school/college to review and revise current course evaluations (e.g., add the recommended open-ended questions) as well as make other revisions identified as part of the review. Next, these revised course evaluations will be shared through existing mechanisms such as the Council of Deans, the University Senate, and the ongoing assessments on student learning…The Office of Planning and Budgeting will collect information on the faculty annual evaluations as part of the annual reporting requirement for each school, specifically the nature and number of negative actions regarding faculty members.

Rod describes this statement as a surrender to the thought police. And it may turn out that way… I don’t know. But that’s not actually what the statement says. Allow me to provide a translation from academese into English.

Modifications to the course evaluation form are a core component of faculty governance in each school/college.

Changes to the course evaluation forms have to be approved by the various faculties, on a separate basis in each school or college. The administration cannot impose such changes unilaterally, and takes no responsibility for doing so.

Each academic Dean will be asked to establish a process in the school/college to review and revise current course evaluations (e.g., add the recommended open-ended questions) as well as make other revisions identified as part of the review.

The dean of each college will appoint a committee to overhaul the evaluations. The revisions might include the questions mentioned in the demand, but they also might not. Any changes submitted to the relevant faculty under that college’s existing procedures would be products of the committee report, not read off the demands.

Next, these revised course evaluations will be shared through existing mechanisms such as the Council of Deans, the University Senate, and the ongoing assessments on student learning…

The meaning of this sentence isn’t totally clear, but it suggests an additional layer of consultation and coordination.

The Office of Planning and Budgeting will collect information on the faculty annual evaluations as part of the annual reporting requirement for each school, specifically the nature and number of negative actions regarding faculty members.

The Office of Planning and budget will record whatever information the evaluations collect, whether they include new questions or not.

So what’s the bottom line? That Emory will establish a procedure that is expected to last months or years, with lots of veto points along the way. It’s possible that this will lead to the kind of oversight the protestors want. But it’s more likely to yield vague guidelines that will allow the administration to preen “diversity” without provoking a revolt of the tenured faculty, who are rarely conservative but usually don’t like meddling with their classrooms.

Smothering illiberal demands in process is a risky strategy. It would be better to reassert a core element of academic freedom: the right of instructors to present controversial ideas in their own classrooms without risking official sanction. But that would require a reconception of the university as a place for serious study rather than a playland for personal exploration and progressive politics . In the meantime, we’ll have to hope the process is as long as convoluted as possible.

Samuel Goldman is assistant professor of political science at The George Washington University.