Conservatives in academia
Ron Lipsman writes about being a conservative in a university:
I emerged from the exercise as an enthusiastic conservative. Thus I was no longer your average faculty member who adhered to the liberal party line, but instead one of a tiny cadre who completely disagreed with the leftist mentality that dominated the thought of campus faculty and administrators.
The overwhelmingly liberal atmosphere on campus is well known. In the one place in society at which there should be diversity of thought, exploration of conflicting ideas and a propensity to challenge conventional wisdom, we have instead a mind-numbing conformity of opinion and a complete unwillingness to entertain any thought or idea that deviates from the accepted truth.
This is not a particularly uplifting essay, but I don’t see how else it could be. Which part of intellectual freedom dictates that everyone should agree on a host of controversial religious, political, and social issues? And yet, the culture on university campuses are exactly that—even if you accept the weak excuse that professors are Democrats because Republicans “want to destroy higher education”, should academics such as college professors be encouraging open debate in their courses (if it’s germane to the course material) or should they be pushing their agendas and political views onto malleable students?
I honestly don’t know where I can go from here. I will be here to finish my Ph.D. But will I remain where my kinds are not welcome?