This article in Nature quotes then-Chancellor Berdahl from his speech in Erfurt, Germany, on May 23, 2000 as saying that there are "two forces that are changing the environment for public universities in the United States: declining public funds, and a systematic, successful and entirely legitimate campaign to develop an anti-liberal, right-wing agenda in universities."
See also the text of the speech [BerdahlOnPrivitization here, locally.]
Also mentions Gilman's inaugural address, 1872. Lots of good "for the public" rhetoric.