Posted on 10/24/2001 9:49:48 PM PDT by paltz
For over 30 years I have become deeply concerned about the drift to the Left in the politics that dominate our colleges and has resulted in a kind of "lock" in tenured positions in the humanities and social sciences.
Why are alumni surprised that the teachings of the American Founders and Abraham Lincoln stand now in an adversarial relation to the softer orthodoxies that are dominant on the campus? In the reigning doctrines of radical feminism and "postmodernism," there are no moral truths, which form the basis of our rights.
The Founders spoke of certain self-evident moral truths, grounded in "nature." But the radical Left on the campus denies that there is a "nature." They insist that everything is "relative" to culture and "social construction." But with this grounding, there is no coherent defense of "natural rights," of the kind that that the American Founders sought to secure.
One of the causes for this strong drift to the Left is the distinctly liberal faculties of our well known colleges. A Harvard junior says of the 2,000 faculty members at Harvard, all but 6 identify themselves as liberal. A survey conducted by some students at Amherst College found one registered Republican among a faculty of 165. A Princeton Alumni letter states that Professor Robert George is, to its knowledge, the only tenured conservative on the Princeton Faculty of nearly 800 people.
I believe this unbalanced mix in faculty is prevalent among the campuses throughout our country. And yet, these very same colleges do everything in their power to have diversified student bodies, even if some of their selection devices are illegal. With one half of our country leaning towards conservatism how is it possible not to have greater conservative representation among the faculties?
One reason is the liberal stance of college administrations who will not hire conservatives. The other is a self-perpetuating situation in which current professors in a given department must vote on the approval of the proposed faculty member.
Common sense tells us that something must be done to offer our children a more balanced education. How would you like to pay $35,000 to send your child to college only to find he took a class at Columbia called "Sorcery and Magic," or "Queer Theory" and "Queer Texts" at Dartmouth, or "Lesbian and Gay Detective Fiction" at Berkeley.
Unfortunately the liberal bias pervades the whole campus and the values and actions of the students. Why is it that the first edition of a conservative college publication is trashed by faculty-brainwashed students? What about College Democrats who tore down the Bush/Cheney signs that conservative activists had put up. Where is the outrage of the college administration or the faculty?
Why do the liberal peaceniks resort a to violence and destruction and not receive a severe reprimand by their colleges?
Why does Ward Connerly, a black conservative opposed to affirmative action, get hooted off the stage at a New England college while Jesse Jackson, not quite a paragon of virtue, is received with open arms by a highly enthusiastic student audience?
A number of these colleges and universities are wallowing in money given to them by alumni. They are giving to the college they once knew and not to their liberal school of today. If these alumni were completely conversant with the present day situation they would be less likely to open their pocketbooks.
A recent Princeton Alumni Fund letter said, "On a campus with such an overwhelmingly liberal-left faculty and administration, we should take any constructive avenue to create the balance and diversity so badly needed on campus."
Both Princeton and Amherst have professors and a group of alumni who are making substantial financial commitments to a more balanced curriculum taught by a more balanced faculty. Hopefully, this is the wave of the future. What can you do to right the educational ship?
First, warn your children or grandchildren about the biased education to which they imight be exposed. Let them know that professors are not infallible; take them with a grain of salt and challenge them.
Secondly, you should insist that the school give them an education that provides both conservative and liberal viewpoints.
Thirdly, give it your financial assistance to any group trying to reform the current curriculum through conservative courses and professors.
Finally, withhold gifts to your college until you are satisfied that it is truly providing students with a balanced education. Do not support a college that practices racial and political discrimination and has contempt for fundamental principles of liberty. I think our children should graduate as better citizens and not as despisers of our democracy and of our system of free enterprise, which has made this the greatest nation in the world.
dep
The solution is simple: A balanced budget admendment which cuts state funds systematiclly until the state can only afford those things which it must provide, that is, national defense and those institutions necessary for the rule of law.
I wish we would stop mischaracterizing these people as "liberals". My Great Aunt is an FDR liberal, and she doesn't believe in any of this new hogwash. These people are SOCIALISTS, and many are COMMUNISTS.
However, it has now filtered down to the public school system.
Check out my thread, "Multiculturalism Run Amuck in the Public Schools".
bttt
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