Conservative Students vs. Liberal Profs
 

http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/12....ap/index.html

Conservative students, liberal profs
Latest fight pits teachers against pupils

AP) -- At the University of North Carolina, three incoming freshmen sue over a reading assignment they say offends their Christian beliefs.

In Colorado and Indiana, a national conservative group publicizes student allegations of left-wing bias by professors. Faculty get hate mail and are pictured in mock "wanted" posters; at least one college says a teacher received a death threat.

And at Columbia University in New York, a documentary film alleging that teachers intimidate students who support Israel draws the attention of administrators.

The three episodes differ in important ways, but all touch on an issue of growing prominence on college campuses.

Traditionally, clashes over academic freedom have pitted politicians or administrators against instructors who wanted to express their opinions and teach as they saw fit. But increasingly, it is students who are invoking academic freedom, claiming biased professors are violating their right to a classroom free from indoctrination.

In many ways, the trend echoes past campus conflicts -- but turns them around. Once, it was liberal campus activists who cited the importance of "diversity" in pressing their agendas for curriculum change. Now, conservatives have adopted much of the same language in calling for a greater openness to their viewpoints.

Similarly, academic freedom guidelines have traditionally been cited to protect left-leaning students from punishment for disagreeing with teachers about such issues as American neutrality before World War II and U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Now, those same guidelines are being invoked by conservative students who support the war in Iraq.

To many professors, there's a new and deeply troubling aspect to this latest chapter in the debate over academic freedom: students trying to dictate what they don't want to be taught.

"Even the most contentious or disaffected of students in the '60s or early '70s never really pressed this kind of issue," said Robert O'Neil, former president of the University of Virginia and now director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.

'It puts a chill in the air'
Those behind the trend call it an antidote to the overwhelming liberal dominance of university faculties. But many educators, while agreeing students should never feel bullied, worry that they just want to avoid exposure to ideas that challenge their core beliefs -- an essential part of education.

Some also fear teachers will shy away from sensitive topics, or fend off criticism by "balancing" their syllabuses with opposing viewpoints, even if they represent inferior scholarship.

"Faculty retrench. They are less willing to discuss contemporary problems and I think everyone loses out," said Joe Losco, a professor of political science at Ball State University in Indiana who has supported two colleagues targeted for alleged bias. "It puts a chill in the air."

Conservatives say a chill is in order.

A recent study by Santa Clara University researcher Daniel Klein estimated that among social science and humanities faculty members nationwide, Democrats outnumber Republicans by at least seven to one; in some fields it's as high as 30 to one. And in the last election, the two employers whose workers contributed the most to Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign were the University of California system and Harvard University.

Many teachers insist personal politics don't affect teaching. But in a recent survey of students at 50 top schools by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a group that has argued there is too little intellectual diversity on campuses, 49 percent reported at least some professors frequently commented on politics in class even if it was outside the subject matter.

Thirty-one percent said they felt there were some courses in which they needed to agree with a professor's political or social views to get a good grade.

Leading the movement is the group Students for Academic Freedom, with chapters on 135 campuses and close ties to David Horowitz, a one-time liberal campus activist turned conservative commentator. The group posts student complaints on its Web site about alleged episodes of grading bias and unbalanced, anti-American propaganda by professors -- often in classes, such as literature, in which it's off-topic.

Instructors "need to make students aware of the spectrum of scholarly opinion," Horowitz said. "You can't get a good education if you're only getting half the story."

Conservatives claim they are discouraged from expressing their views in class, and are even blackballed from graduate school slots and jobs.

"I feel like (faculty) are so disconnected from students that they do these things and they can just get away with them," said Kris Wampler, who recently publicly identified himself as one of the students who sued the University of North Carolina. Now a junior, he objected when all incoming students were assigned to read a book about the Quran before they got to campus.

"A lot of students feel like they're being discriminated against," he said.

Divergent opinions
So far, his and other efforts are having mixed results. At UNC, the students lost their legal case, but the university no longer uses the word "required" in describing the reading program for incoming students (the plaintiffs' main objection).

In Colorado, conservatives withdrew a legislative proposal for an "academic bill of rights" backed by Horowitz, but only after state universities agreed to adopt its principles.

At Ball State, the school's provost sided with Professor George Wolfe after a student published complaints about Wolfe's peace studies course, but the episode has attracted local attention. Horowitz and backers of the academic bill of rights plan to introduce it in the Indiana legislature -- as well as in up to 20 other states.

At Columbia, anguished debate followed the screening of a film by an advocacy group called The David Project that alleges some faculty violate students' rights by using the classroom as a platform for anti-Israeli political propaganda (one Israeli student claims a professor taunted him by asking, "How many Palestinians did you kill?"). Administrators responded this month by setting up a new committee to investigate students complaints.

In the wider debate, both sides cite the guidelines on academic freedom first set out in 1915 by the American Association of University Professors.

The objecting students emphasize the portion calling on teachers to "set forth justly ... the divergent opinions of other investigators." But many teachers note the guidelines also say instructors need not "hide (their) own opinions under a mountain of equivocal verbiage," and that their job is teaching students "to think for themselves."

Horowitz believes the AAUP, which opposes his bill of rights, and liberals in general are now the establishment and have abandoned their commitment to real diversity and student rights.

But critics say Horowitz is pushing a political agenda, not an academic one.

"It's often phrased in the language of academic freedom. That's what's so strange about it," said Ellen Schrecker, a Yeshiva University historian who has written about academic freedom during the McCarthy area. "What they're saying is, 'We want people to reflect our point of view.' "

Horowitz's critics also insist his campaign is getting more attention than it deserves, riling conservative bloggers but attracting little alarm from most students. They insist even most liberal professors give fair grades to conservative students who work hard and support their arguments.

Often, the facts of particular cases are disputed. At Ball State, senior Brett Mock published a detailed account accusing Wolfe of anti-Americanism in a peace studies class and of refusing to tolerate the view that the U.S. invasion of Iraq might have been justified. In a telephone interview, Wolfe vigorously disputed Mock's allegations. He provided copies of a letter of support from other students in the class, and from the provost saying she had found nothing wrong with the course.

Horowitz, who has also criticized Ball State's program, had little sympathy when asked if Wolfe deserved to get hate e-mails from strangers.

"These people are such sissies," he said. "I get hate mail every single day. What can I do about it? It's called the Internet."

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Interesting how this is a complete reversal of what used to happen. Also, I think suing because you have to read a book about the Quran is completely ridiculous. Part of education is learning about things that you might not necessarily agree with; it (hopefully) teaches you tolerance when you are more educated about where people are coming from. It's not like these students were going to be forced to convert to Islam once they started college.

These kids should come to Marquette - I have yet to have a liberal professor.

And I'm still managing to learn...just fine.

Re: Conservative Students vs. Liberal Profs
 

I'd rather they have to read the Quran itself than a book ABOUT it. We have no idea what this book says - if every page says that every other religion sucks or the like, I'd be offended. And if a teacher chose that book I'm guessing they agree with that viewpoint.

I don't care if a teacher is a Nazi, but they need to leave their personal opinions outside when they come in the classroom. You should be judged on the quality of your work and your contribution to class - not whether you agree with the professor. It's the same as giving varsity athletes A's in gym and flunking the less coordinated kids, even if they're trying their best.

My old professor once said, "You are an adult. You don't have to read anything. However, do not complain when you fail a test because you weren't prepared for it."

Re: Conservative Students vs. Liberal Profs
 

I completely agree that suing isn't the answer, and that learning something that's outside your thought process is what college is all about.

My favorite professor was VERY liberal, and he knew my opinions. When I needed a professor to back me up on a matter, he was the first one to defend me.

I know I base my papers on the profs political leanings. If it's going to be easier to get an A by agreeing than disagreeing, why would I disagree with their leanings and take a lower grade?

That's the problem. A lot of students are being punished, or being forced to agree with professors just for a grade. I think it's pretty obvious that you don't want to show a conservative (or hell, even a moderate) view point when a prof. is in front of the class saying that anyone that voted for President Bush is stupid and probably didn't go to college.

Wasn't there an article like this in USAToday last year? Anyway, students sometimes get upset when their profs disagree with their views and actually try to convert them. I once had a prof who basically implied that my views were "wrong" because they weren't like hers.

My university has a self-professed right wing polisci department.

I have never written anything from a right-wing viewpoint. I wrote my ConLaw final on how judicial activism is needed to combat the increasing amounts of discrimination done by the legislature. This is not a right-wing idea. I got an A on the final from a man who believes that Roe v. Wade is a moral outrage.

If you write well, and express your viewpoints solidly, with facts to back them up, no respectable professor would mark you down.

Very very true. My old professor is a left wing feminist and one of my buddy was a hard core Republican conservative. He wrotes stuff that would piss her off royally, but he got an A because he wrote his argument in a solid matter.

It's that "respectable" thing that is the tricky part. ;)

Why don't these conservative kids just join the military and forget about college?

Why don't you hippies join a commune and leave the rest of us alone?

Why don't we all continue to go to school together, learn about each other's views and get the hell on with our lives?

But then hell will freeze over. We wouldn't want that, would we?

Yeah, where would all the hippies burn then?

Oh noes. Do I need to reinstate "Hug an Angry Conservative" day? It was a big hit the first time, but I have so much else going on right now, including hemp production and patchouli application.

Yes please. I just want to be able to hug my boyfriend and tell him that. :)

Am I a disgrace to hippies everywhere if I don't wear patchouli? Can I be a hippie and carry Louis Vuitton and Vera? Somehow I'm not sure if a sherbet Betsy with monogram is the right bag to carry when I go on commune interviews.

I will carry my seaport navy Miller with monogram. I will wear my LaCoste perfume too.

Okay, I'll wear my LaCoste polo when I visit communes, but I'll put a little I <3 Nader button over the alligator.

The way I see it is once you're in college, you should be mature enough to deal with professors who may have different beliefs than your own. Put on your big kid pants and deal with it. This also goes for professors, of course. You should be allowed to have opinions but it isn't your job to indoctrinate anyone.

If a kid can back up his reasoning for why he thinks the U.S. should have been in Vietnam, he should get a good grade. And if he just wants to whine and say, "Well, any idiot knows they should have been there, you just gave me an F on this essay because you disagree" without using any justification to back that up -- well, I agree with the F.

I go to a school that is notoriously liberal, especially on the faculty side, but faculty members are not allowed to express political viewpoints in class. Of course, sometimes it's still obvious what they believe even if they're not up there saying "Bush is a monkey." And it's a frustrating policy, especially when I've been in classes where everybody is mature enough to discuss political issues without judging each other and the instructor is not allowed to weigh in.

I just kind of think this is something you have to deal with. We all know that teachers are liberal. If you don't want to deal with that, go to a conservative school. GeekyPenguin goes to a school where there are a number of conservative instructors and she's had her liberal views criticized by instructors in class. But she chose to go a religious university, she knew this was going to be an issue, she puts on her big kid pants and deals with it. If I decide to go into big business later in life, I'll have to deal with the fact that my higher-ups will probably tend to be conservatives. If I decide to move to Texas when I grow up, I'll have to live with the fact that many of my neighbors will be conservatives. It's hard for me to believe that if students know they're going to be THIS bothered by liberal professors, they don't look into schools with more conservative teachers earlier in the game.

Obviously nobody deserves to have their grade changed based on their beliefs if they show a grasp of the subject. But is that really always what's going on?

I have also had profs who purposely made outrageous opinion statements to get people thinking about what they believe and WHY. So many people can't defend WHY they believe what they believe and I think profs can help you develop that level of critical thinking.

Thanks, been the HAYLE and back...
 

After my gulag of 8 years in the SDState University Penitentiary for Joint Doctoral program in Molecular Biology, I cannot believe the increase number of weiners (spelled whiners) as to why they deserve "A's" opposed to the grade they did deserve!

How can one fake the funk in Chemistry and Biology? Really?

Even as a TA, I spoke to a professor (liberal, conservative, whatever) about gettin' misery from students because I graded their dayum reports and gave them the grade they deserved... The professor told me, just ask them, to tell you what medical school they are accepted into and make sure you don't go to them...

I am incapable of comprehending how some kid who doesn't put effort into his or her science classes, then expect to go to med/vet/grad school? I cannot work. I don't care how liberal the professors are, you cannot fake that you know what you are talking about in math, physics, engineering, biology or chemistry... That's impossible... Too many solid facts that must be known so that one can excell...

My grad school university department was staunch ultra-kard, karryin' kind conservative as HAYLE. But, my folks entrenched up on me--when in Rome, do as the Romans... I had other things to contend with to. I had defend and justify myself, my brain, my thoughts, my values, etc. more than anyone else... But, I got through it with my Ph.D., so what's the problem?

I guess, that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger??? Or you just die of heart disease or cancer when your 50 years old...