January 2007
DIVERSITY in higher education was a major topic of discussion at a recent
conference in Cambridge. The focus, however, was not on the familiar concept of
diversity as a desirable mix of races, genders, and ethnic groups. Rather,
participants deplored the lack of intellectual and political diversity on
college campuses.
The
National Organization of Scholars, which held the conference Nov. 17-19, emerged
in the late 1980s in response to “political correctness” in the academy. The
group is widely perceived as conservative, much to the consternation of some
members who are liberal Democrats but are put off by the prevailing orthodoxy in
the universities. One star speaker at the event was Boston-based lawyer Harvey
Silverglate, a liberal champion of civil liberties, who noted that many
statements that would be considered normal, if debatable, expressions of opinion
anywhere else are regarded as discriminatory on college campuses.
Numerous studies confirm that most college faculty lean left, especially in the
more prestigious institutions. At a time when political discourse in American
society in general has shifted noticeably to the right, some people wonder why
an academy that tilts left is a problem: The universities, they argue, are
islands in a sea of conservatism. But no academic institution can thrive
on uniformity; liberalism itself can turn illiberal when isolated from different
ideas. What’s more, the marginalization of right-of-center ideas in the academy
may have a lot to do modern conservatism’s transformation into a caricature of
itself.
That marginalization is evident. Some academic programs, particularly in such
areas as women’s studies, education, and social work, explicitly push for
left-leaning social change. On one panel, Brooklyn College historian Robert
Johnson offered a striking example of intellectual uniformity. He noted that,
according to its website, the University of Michigan history department has 26
full-time professors teaching American history. Eleven of them focus on race and
ethnicity in America, while another nine specialize in women’s history. There
are no military or diplomatic historians.
To
what extent this imbalance penalizes alternative viewpoints is hard to
establish. In a recent survey by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni
at 50 top colleges and universities, nearly half of students said the
presentation of contemporary political issues and controversies in classes,
campus panels, and lecture series was too one-sided, and nearly a third felt
they had to agree with a professor’s political views in order to get good
grades. On many campuses, there is a general sense that you have to be a liberal
to fit in. In a post-conference interview, Johnson said that the problem was not
so much retaliation against students with dissenting opinions as “one-sided
instruction to students that don’t have the educational or intellectual
background to detect the bias and challenge a professor’s viewpoint.”
Some conservatives advocate legislative interference as a solution. Activist
David Horowitz has been pushing for an “Academic Bill of Rights” that would not
only protect dissenting students from classroom retaliation but also guarantee
the inclusion of balanced viewpoints in the curriculum. This effort has gone
nowhere.
In
his talk at the conference, Johnson took a dim view of such efforts. Given
conservative support for including “intelligent design” in the biology
curriculum, he noted, a mandate of “balance” in teaching could be used to
smuggle creationism into science classrooms at public universities. Yet he also
outlined legislative remedies that could work:
Fund programs that would expose students to ideas currently neglected or
marginalized in the academy; conduct oversight hearings on the lack of
intellectual diversity on campuses; abolish speech codes that often result in
suppressing politically incorrect opinions on race, gender, and sexuality within
college courses.
When stifled on campuses, right-of-center ideas don’t just go away. These days,
they are expressed — in pungent manner — on talk radio, and in overtly
political journalism and publishing. Such outlets have increased in prominence,
and universities have lost influence over American politics. When intellectual
life is seen as a bastion of the left, conservatism devolves from intellectual
giants like the late Milton Friedman to intellectual thugs like Ann Coulter —
with dangerous consequences for the political climate.
Cathy Young is a contributing editor at Reason
magazine. Her column appears regularly in the Globe.
Boston Globe, November 27, 2006.
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