Oregon Student Blasted for Mentioning Lack of Professorate’s Political Diversity

Vocal Minority ^ | 7/20/09 | EricTheRed_VocalMinority

[EricTheRed_VocalMinority]

This sad story stemmed from an editorial in the University of Oregon’s campus paper The Daily Emerald at the beginning of June. Its author, journalism grad student Dan Lawton, is a self-described liberal and political independent who couldn’t help but notice the virtual non-existence of conservative and/or Republican representation in the university’s journalism, law, political science, economics and sociology departments.

Lawton’s column read in part:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reflect,” Mark Twain once said. I spent my first few months as a graduate student here doing just that. I came back to school to prepare myself for a career in which I would be expected to defend my convictions. I matriculated seeking discourse and found conformity, and as I realized there would be little intellectual challenge going left, I drifted right.

In part, I believe this transformation aided my intellectual and professional development. Liberal journalism is so normative that it’s difficult to stake a claim. But if your politics are independent enough that you can occasionally gravitate across the aisle, there’s an expanse of fertile ground waiting. From this realization I have profited, but, in general, the dearth of conservative viewpoints damages the experiences of University students, regardless if they acknowledge it.

The lifeblood of learning is exposure to a diverse and combative set of viewpoints. This sort of framework allows students to sift through ideologies and compose their own independent belief systems. The concept of “diversity” and the “marketplace of ideas” shouldn’t just act as convenient adages for

[I Buried My Guns]

Commies on the Colorado?

[cspackler]

UT is not called “Berkeley on the Brazos”.

Well, maybe not by you, but it is a common term. I realize that the Brazos does not run through Austin, but it is a take on "Washington on the Brazos", for comedic effect.

I didn't just make it up...

Link

[Mr. Lucky]

Perhaps cliches aren’t his cup of tea.