The New York Review of Books has been publishing a series of memoirs by Tony Judt, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease in 2008. The latest issue has one called “Girls! Girls! Girls“, about his experience handling complaints and concerns about sexual harassment at NYU in the heyday of college PC. The whole thing is worth reading, but I’d like to call attention to the following anecdote:

On another occasion, a student complained that I “discriminated” against her because she did not offer sexual favors. When the department ombudswoman—a sensible lady of impeccable radical credentials—investigated, it emerged that the complainant resented not being invited to join my seminar: she assumed that women who took part must be getting (and offering) favorable treatment. I explained that it was because they were smarter. The young woman was flabbergasted: the only form of discrimination she could imagine was sexual. It had never occurred to her that I might just be an elitist.

The rest of the story is that the student was none other than Sarah Palin. OK, I made that last part up.