These folks have been in the academia forever, they are just well funded and emboldened now.
Back in the 90's a buddy of mine came to visit me from my Boston days. He was on a tight schedule so he had asked his Mom to meet him at my apartment so they could get dinner together. His Mom was from China and she was still very much a Maoist, she was also a professor at a private liberal arts college on Long Island. My buddy warned me ahead of time that she was bringing her boyfriend with her and he was an assistant professor and also a blatant commie (my buddy knows I cannot stand commies) He did not disappoint.... he was wearing John Lennon glasses, a Mao hat complete with red star a black tunic and black jeans with work boots. My friend and I did engage in a bit of taunting for the 20 minutes or so he was in my apartment before they left but I knew right then how deep this shit went in our institutions. Oh and my buddy brought me one of those stupid hats back from China once when he worked for a wine distributor over there for awhile, I still have it somewhere...