At Accuracy in Academia’s recent Capitol Hill event in Washington, D. C. , Conservative University, those in attendance heard from Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), currently the youngest member of the U. S. House of Representatives.
Apart from a brief discussion focusing on his transition from state to federal politics, the twenty-nine-year-old representative regaled the crowd with troublesome stories of the intellectual deterioration taking place on college campuses all across America, stories which have been far too common in recent years. “It’s tough to be a conservative in college,” he said. “If you are a communist however, the best place to be is in academia.”
Mr. McHenry spoke of a column he wrote for his college newspaper that was critical of the growing social and moral relativism he saw creeping in American society and inside the classroom. One of his professors saw the article and openly berated him during class and, according to Mr. McHenry, downgraded him from that time forward.
Far too often, there is no true diversity of opinion and ideas. Administrators love to champion their commitment to “diversity” yet the reality is that while they might be working towards a multi-colored smorgasbord of matriculates, they also work to make sure that inside they are all the same ideological hue. Students are bombarded by agenda- driven professors and, without any counterweight or alternative, remain a captive audience with little recourse. What is lost is the pursuit of truth.
This state of affairs has led to many conservatives beginning to argue on behalf of an academic bill of rights to reclaim some of what advanced scholarship was originally intended to be. Yet in emphasizing the potential benefits of the academic bill of rights, Mr. McHenry made an essential point that is lost far too often in the discussion over intellectual diversity on college campuses.
When conservatives complain of a liberal bias in academia, they are not, by virtue of their opposition, tacitly endorsing instead a shift to conservative principles. What is urgently needed, however, and as Rep. McHenry points out, is that colleges and universities fulfill their intellectual obligation of providing true diversity of ideas to their students. There is no need for ideological quotas when administrators are making hiring decisions, but there should be a true balance of ideas.
Scholarship is about the pursuit of truth and the contemplation of great ideas, it is not about indoctrination. Yet a pseudo 60’s-era spirit of activism still permeates inside the halls of American academia, with parents footing the bill. Nowadays, a school advertisement might as well go, “Come to Liberal U. You give us $30,000 and we’ll give you a well-adjusted, counter-culture malcontent. Results may vary.”
In academia, much like the mainstream media, only one side of issues is presented, precluding the possibility of a rational and informed debate before one can even start. An academic bill of rights however, and people like Patrick McHenry, are starting to do something about it.
John Leppard is an intern at Accuracy in Media, Accuracy in Academia’s parent group.
