College students get ready: The nation’s most idiotic and asinine battle is coming to a classroom near you.
The recent proposal of an Academic Bill of Rights is the latest in the ongoing war of stupidity between liberals and conservatives. Put forward by David Horowitz and backed by a myriad of conservative lemmings, this legislation claims to level the academic playing field by ensuring no student or teacher is discriminated against due to political or religious beliefs.
While that sounds innocent enough, merely scratching the surface of this bill reveals some terrifying consequences. If this bill were to be passed into law — keep in mind it is currently being sponsored in Massachusetts by Rep. Jeffery Perry (R – Barnstable) — it would give the government an unconscionable amount of power to decide what is appropriate at Boston University and other institutions.
This is, in a word, Orwellian. The idea that government should have any say in the way professors teach at a private institution violates the very ideas upon which America was founded. The independence and autonomy of professors are essential to giving students a well-rounded education.
The introduction of this bill opens the door for numerous future intrusions by state governments. If professors can be censored, how long will it be until each curriculum must be government-approved? Students who truly feel that they have been discriminated against due to non-academic criteria should stand up for themselves, not look to the government to decide what is best for them.
College students today have enough excuses without being allowed to use professors as scapegoats. By undermining the ability of private institutions and professors to operate independent of government bias, this bill allows students to alleviate themselves of any academic responsibility. According to the legislation, every time a student receives an unsatisfactory grade, he or she would be free to call out a professor’s academic and religious beliefs.
Perhaps even more disturbing than the ramifications of the Academic Bill of Rights is the way Horowitz and others have pursued its sanction. As if conservatives didn’t need another loud-mouth to embarrass them, Horowitz has attacked many professors by accusing them of furthering liberal bias in education.
As a conservative-leaning student, I often feel in the minority at BU. But I cannot think that any reasonable person would agree with Horowitz’s sentiments. Perhaps his most brazen attack has been against BU professor emeritus Howard Zinn, who he accused of trying to undermine America and trash its past. Zinn has wisely chosen not to acknowledge this drivel.
Even more unbelievable is the fact that students don’t seem to be faced with a decision regarding this bill. If a bill of rights is going to be enacted in my interests, I might like a small say in what will be included. Unfortunately, most students don’t seem to even know about the bill, let alone have a say in it. It’s comforting to know ultra-conservatives like Horowitz know what’s better for us than we do.
So now universities may be faced with a bill allowing governments to interfere with curricula and harass professors, all in the name of students who may not even want this bill passed in the first place. I think someone at the ACLU just had a stroke.
Fortunately, there are advocacy groups opposing this abomination, but they have their work cut out for them. Although Colorado and Ohio have non-binding versions of this bill enacted for public institutions, it could be enacted in as many as 20 states, according to Students for Academic Freedom, an organization promoting the bill.
The nature of this bill says a lot about the current state of universities. Has the red state versus blue state battle really spilled into academia? It is terrifying to think that this unbelievably pedestrian concept — in which Americans must now be either liberal or conservative — is impacting classrooms around the nation.
I think it’s fair to say that a large majority of students have strong political beliefs. I’m not arguing that these beliefs don’t belong in the classroom; universities are an excellent place to stir and house political debate. But allowing this bill to remove the opportunity for debate would seriously detract from the university experience, and only serve to further the current state of American politics.
While discrimination in the classroom is a serious issue, the idea that the government knows what is best for students, professors and universities creates more problems than it solves. Universities must fix their own problems while standing up for their autonomy from the government. Otherwise, students may one day face a world in which the government regulates every aspect of their education.
