Attacks on professors in Pennsylvania

I was reading the Sunday NY Times this weekend and noticed a letter to the editor that referenced an earlier article about the legislators in Pennsylvania. It also describes the broader national propaganda attacking "left-wing" professors, led by David Horowitz. Luckily, as the article explains, so far nothing has come of it except a lot of noise.

The letter was great--an MBA writing about her right-wing classmates and teachers--asking why no one was investigating their open bias and attacks on her.

The Times may sue me for copyright violation, but here is the article:

Professors' Politics Draw Lawmakers Into the Fray
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY (NYT) 1155 words
Published: December 25, 2005

While attending a Pennsylvania Republican Party picnic, Jennie Mae Brown bumped into her state representative and started venting.

''How could this happen?'' Ms. Brown asked Representative Gibson C. Armstrong two summers ago, complaining about a physics professor at the York campus of Pennsylvania State University who she said routinely used class time to belittle President Bush and the war in Iraq. As an Air Force veteran, Ms. Brown said she felt the teacher's comments were inappropriate for the classroom.

The encounter has blossomed into an official legislative inquiry, putting Pennsylvania in the middle of a national debate spurred by conservatives over whether public universities are promoting largely liberal positions and discriminating against students who disagree with them.

A committee held two hearings last month in Pittsburgh and has scheduled another for Jan. 9 in Philadelphia. A final report with any recommendations for legislative remedy is due in June.

The investigation comes at a time when David Horowitz, a conservative commentator and president of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture, has been lobbying more than a dozen state legislatures to pass an ''Academic Bill of Rights'' that he says would encourage free debate and protect students against discrimination for expressing their political beliefs.

While Mr. Horowitz insists his campaign for intellectual diversity is nonpartisan, it is fueled, in large measure, by studies that show the number of Democratic professors is generally much larger than the number of Republicans. A survey in 2003 by researchers at Santa Clara University found the ratio of Democrats to Republicans on college faculties ranged from 3 to 1 in economics to 30 to 1 in anthropology.

Mr. Horowitz said he was pushing for legislation only because schools across the country were ignoring their own academic freedom regulations and a founding principle of the American Association of University Professors, which says schools are better equipped to regulate themselves without government intervention.

''It became apparent to me that universities have a problem,'' he said in an interview. ''And nothing was being done about it.''

Mr. Horowitz and his allies are meeting forceful resistance wherever they go, by university officials and the professors association, which argues that conservatives are overstating the problem and, by seeking government action, are forcing their ideology into the classroom.

''Mechanisms exist to address these glitches and to fix them,'' said Joan Wallach Scott, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., and former chairwoman of the professors association committee on academic freedom, in testimony at the Pennsylvania Legislature's first hearing. ''There is no need for interference from outside legislative or judicial agencies.''

In a debate with Mr. Horowitz last summer, Russell Jacoby, a history professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, portrayed Mr. Horowitz's approach as heavy-handed. ''It calls for committees or prosecutors to monitor the lectures and assignments of teachers,'' he said. ''This is a sure-fire way to kill free inquiry and whatever abuses come with it.''

So far, the campaign has produced more debate than action. Colorado and Ohio agreed to suspend legislative efforts to impose an academic bill of rights in favor of pledges by their state schools to uphold standards already in place. Georgia passed a resolution discouraging ''political or ideological indoctrination'' by teachers, encouraging them to create ''an environment conducive to the civil exchange of ideas.''

While comparable efforts failed in three other states, measures are pending in 11 others. In Congress, House and Senate committees passed a general resolution this year encouraging American colleges to promote ''a free and open exchange of ideas'' in their classrooms and to treat students ''equally and fairly.'' It awaits floor action next year.

Mr. Horowitz's center has spawned a national group called Students for Academic Freedom that uses its Web site to collect stories from students who say they have been affected by political bias in the classroom. The group says it has chapters on more than 150 campuses.

The student group has fielded concerns from people like Nathaniel Nelson, a former student at the University of Rhode Island and a conservative, who said a philosophy teacher he had during his junior year referred often to his own homosexuality and made clear his dislike for Mr. Bush.

Mr. Nelson, now a graduate student at the University of Connecticut, said in an interview that the teacher frequently called on him to defend his conservative values while making it clear he did not care for Republicans.

''On the first day of class, he said, 'If you don't like me, get out of my class,' '' Mr. Nelson said. ''But it was the only time that fall the course was being offered, and I wanted to take it.''

Marissa Freimanis said she encountered a similar situation in her freshman English class at California State University, Long Beach, last year. Ms. Freimanis said the professor's liberal bias was clear in the class syllabus, which suggested topics for members of the class to write about. One was, ''Should Justice Sandra Day O'Connor be impeached for her partisan political actions in the Bush v. Gore case?''

''Of course, I felt very uncomfortable,'' Ms. Freimanis, who is a Republican, said in an interview.

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers are examining whether the political climate at 18 state-run schools requires legislation to ban bias. Mr. Armstrong said he discussed the issue in several conversations with Mr. Horowitz ''as an expert in the field'' before calling for the creation of a committee.

''But I don't know if his Academic Bill of Rights is necessary in Pennsylvania,'' Mr. Armstrong said in an interview. ''Before we have legislation to change a problem, we first have to determine whether the problem exists. If it does exist, the next question is, 'Is it significant enough to require legislation?' ''

''So the question I'm asking,'' he added, ''is, 'Do we have a problem in Pennsylvania?' ''

For now, the answer is unclear. While Mr. Armstrong said he had received complaints from ''about 50 students'' who said they were intimidated by professors expressing strong political views, Democratic members of the committee have called the endeavor a waste of time, and the Republican chairman, Representative Thomas L. Stevenson, seemed to agree.

''If our report were issued today,'' Mr. Stevenson said, ''I'd say our institutions of higher education are doing a fine job.''

Horowitz gets sued

In the always enjoyable (in a disheartening sort of way) David Horowitz Saga, a new twist has emerged.

Joel Beinin has sued Horowitz for putting his picture on the front of the book. He argues that Horowitz shouldn't be able to use his picture for profit, especially when he disputes the claims made about him in the book.

I don't imagine he will have any luck -- it is exactly like Fox News trying to sue Al Franken over "fair and balanced." That one was laughed out of court, and this one probably will be too.


MercuryNews.com | 05/10/2006 | Professor fights portrayal as supporter of terrorism

Horowitz Fact Checker

A Website entitled freeexchangeoncampus.org has posted a series of responses to the errors in David Horowitz's 101 Most Dangerous Academics.

They start with the fact that there are only 100 names on the list. It makes for some interesting reading!

Free Exchange on Campus - Horowitz Fact Checker

101 most dangerous professors

This story hit the airwaves recently. David Horowitz published a book denouncing 101 professors for disagreeing with him.

Here is a list of all the names. Nobody from Oshkosh made the list. I'm disappointed.

I propose Dean Zimmerman. After all, he has had the gall to lead a campaign to convince people that evolution and Christianity are not mutually exclusive.

This has been a great service to the university and to the public sphere, which has been dominated by extreme Christianist voices trying to destroy science in this country.

Exactly the kind of thing David Horowitz sees as traitorous behavior!


Peter N. Kirstein » Blog Archive » David Horowitz Includes Professor Kirstein as one of 101 Most Dangerous Professors.

Horowitz and Berube have lunch

Here is a story from the Chronicle of Higher Education about inviting David Horowitz and Michael Berube to have lunch together.

As I read the article, I have trouble deciding whether it is real or a work of imagination. I enjoyed it anyway!

Am I contradictory?

In a response to the NY Times article below, janine asked me if there was a contradiction between Horowitz attempt to restrict speech on campus and my opinion that RA's should not be holding bible study in their work-space. I started to comment directly to her, but decided to move it since my reply kept growing:

First, teaching at a university and being an RA in a dormitory are very different occupations with different expectations. My job is not to provide support for dorm residents as they adjust to college life.

Second, I don't think classrooms are appropriate spaces for political discussions, outside of classes on political science. Students are there to learn a certain content and to learn ways of interpreting the content which is placed before them.

As part of that process, the comfortable notions which students often bring to their classes are challenged. That is what a college education is about. Occasionally, students who are not open to listening to diverse opinions are offended.

Usually, the views with which the offended students are presented come from a part of the spectrum which is foreign to current American political discourse--the left. The David Horowitzs of the world think that it is a bad thing to be forced to confront ideas with which you might not agree. The John Ashcrofts of the world claim it aids terrorism to question the administration. It is not surprising that students don't like to hear about alternative world-views.

In my own teaching, I am sure I come across like some radical leftist. I continually emphasize the power and appeal of left-wing ideas, because it is clearly so foreign to my students. Many simply can not conceive how anyone would ever believe anything different than they do.

The Horowitz crowd, and his Christianist legislator supporters, don't seem to believe in critical thinking and being exposed to a diversity of opinions. They see it as a threat that students might have to confront ideas that disagree with their own. Bible study fits this mold--the RAs are not looking to critically analyze the diversity of interpretations of the bible, but are trying to convince their charges that their own view is the right own.

A historian named Bill Cronon who gave a presentation on campus a few months ago described history as the stories we tell about our past. I want my students to think about the reasons that some stories are dominant and others are lost. This is what education is about, not having your own stories recited back to you without any analysis.

Berube on liberals in academia

The NY Times Magazine ran an editorial piece (reg. required) by Michael Berube about liberals in higher education. Berube has been one of the most outspoken critics of Horowitz and his ilk. This piece, I imagine, fits with the arguments he made in his recently published book.

It goes without saying that I agree with the arguments that Berube is making here and the article is accompanied with a nice chart showing that not much has changed in terms of ideological makeup over the last couple of decades. Professors who identify themselves as moderates have declined, while both left and right have slighly increased.

College professors still respected by public

College Professors are not losing public respect, according to a recent gallup poll. I was surprised to see that we did so well. The results show that we are given ratings for honesty and ethics on par with the clergy (though I have to admit there is some irony in that).

The figures show that 58% of those polled rate us very high or high for our ethics. Only 7% rated us low or very low. The charts also give a bit of historical breakdown, showing that these numbers are slightly better than they were in the early 1990s.

I would have expected that with all of the bad press that we have been getting from Horowitz, Nass, and others that our ratings wouldn't have held up.

This is definitely good news for our profession and higher education in general!

Legislature in PA finds no prof. bias

In the continuing saga of David Horowitz's assault on higher ed, a legislative committee in Pennsylvania has been holding hearings about the "mistreatment" of conservative students on their university campuses.

The committee could not find any problems. Here is the AP story.

I wonder if PA state politics swung back to the middle, as here in WI. The committee sure dumped this albatross in a hurry after the election.

The Other Side of Ignorance: Ward Churchill's misconduct

It seems only fair to note that Ward Churchill has been accused of a whole lot of academic misconduct. This, of course, follows on the heals of reports of all the misrepresentations in David Horowitz's work. I suppose all extremists do such things--when you put your ideology before the facts, what do the facts matter?

The report does not call for his dismissal, but suggests a long suspension. It makes interesting reading.

Inside Higher Ed :: Truth and Consequences

Pat Robertson joins attack on university professors

Read about how Pat Robertson is attacking college professors as murderers and "termites that have worked into the woodwork of our academic society."

There is more info here about politics around the Horowitz' bill in Florida as well.

Is it just me, or does Robertson get wierder and more extreme every day? Having his denunciations can only help expose the lunacy of many of these claims!

Inside Higher Ed :: Murderers, Video and Academic Freedom

Student perceptions of bias fall short of reality

I meant to post this story a few days ago when it ran on the higher education home page. It is a great study that suggests that students attribute political leanings to their professors more based on their own bias than on what that professor says or does.

It is not exactly a corrective to the Horowitz attacks, but it does change the terms of the debate.

Conservative students see bias everywhere, whether it is there or not. . .

Inside Higher Ed :: The Real Bias in the Classroom

High school teacher suspended for criticizing Bush

From the heart of Horowitz country (Colorado, the first state leg. to consider his bill), a high school geography teacher was suspended after a student taped his anti-Bush rant.

This should give the idea of taping your professors a boost -- look at the power it gives the taper!



Teacher Probed Over Bush Remarks - CBS News

Arizona Senate Panel Wants to Ban Controversy

A panel in arizona passed through a bill that would force alternate assignments any time a student is offended for any reason.

And I though Horowitz was an extremist--can you imagine what this would do to colleges in Arizona or anywhere else? We might as well close up shop and go home!

Inside Higher Ed :: Avoid Whatever Offends You

Zimmerman in the NY Times

I had not seen this article when I suggested that Dean Zimmerman be added to the horowitz hit-list.

With a little national attention, maybe he can become 102.

In all seriousness, congrats to Michael for bringing attention to the fact that not every Christian in America agrees with the Christianist anti-intellectual BS.


At Churches Nationwide, Good Words for Evolution - New York Times

The American Historical Association votes to criticize 'Academic Bill of Rights'

Historians voted at their annual meeting to condemn Horowitz's attack on academic independence.

Apparently, there was a debate about whether this should extend to all forms of speech codes on campus. The council decided not to extend their condemnation, arguing that the current threat was the "academic bill of rights," not speech codes, which have been blocked by courts in the past.

I am sympathetic to intellectual freedoms of all types, so I can understand the argument that this kind of condemnation should include all codes that want to restrict independent discussion on campus. However, we know that is not what the Horowitzers of the world want.



Inside Higher Ed :: More Criticism of 'Academic Bill of Rights'

Northwestern Editorial Rant against Academia

I have to post the editorial from the Northwestern this morning. Mary Hiles, ex-lecturer in the UWO English department, recycles the tired, old charges from David Horowitz and the right-wing American Council of Trustees and Alumni about professors' political views in the classroom (many of which have been disbunked).

Her entry into this is Bill McConkey. He was in the paper a few months ago as the lead plaintiff in a law suit against the anti-civil union amendment to the Wisconsin constitution. Oddly, she gives us detail about a professor in New Jersey about whom people on ratemyprofessor.com say bad things.

I am not even sure McConkey is currently teaching here (or ever even mentioned the constitutional amendment in a class), but Hiles decides to use it as proof that "liberal" professors force their views on students in their classrooms.

Besides being a gratuitous, hollow attack on UWO, it demonstrates once again the failure of 'community columnists' to produce editorials that don't waste your time.