Hey Conservatives, can you stop attacking professors and universities like they're enemies to freedom?

I'm a college student and I'm concerned about the fact that conservatives literally demonize the very concept of higher-level education and want to defund public institutions that are the infrastructure behind universities. I agree that many professors are left-leaning, but what consolidation of power are they supposed to have that makes them such a threat? I've met some professors that were far leftists and some that were rightists, some that were open about their political leanings and some that were not. A vast majority of my professors have genuinely been impartial and have always stressed the importance of individual critical thinking and going beyond the classroom to read whatever we want to.<br><br>I don't know if I'd identify as a conservative or liberal, but I don't see why consolidation of power in universities is nearly as bad as a consolidation of power in the government, corporations, or god forbid, churches. Educational institutions literally operate on widespread, open-source knowledge that anyone can look up. I don't get it. I don't see any widespread misuse of power or brainwashing by professors, so what is the threat that conservatives have been reacting to for so long?