Academic Calls for Colleges to Curb Liberal Bias In Classrooms
by Jim Brown
April 30, 2004
(AgapePress) - A political science professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) says colleges are not doing enough to shield students from liberal bias in the classroom.Dr. Sandy Lakoff, the founder of UCSD political science department, says most schools today do not have adequate procedures to address student complaints alleging bias or indoctrination by professors. Lakoff gives a probable explanation for this situation.
"In the interests of maintaining academic freedom, neither administrators nor the faculty organizations like faculty senates are anxious to set up any kind of boards that could be considered to be interfering with what goes on in the classroom," he says.
But the UCSD professor says the schools and faculty groups have "gone too far in that regard because they don't protect the rights of students against that type of behavior." Because of this, he says the important question for students to ask becomes not "What are the political views of my professors?" but rather, "What do my professors do in their classrooms and in their scholarship?"
While Lakoff believes most college professors are politically liberal, he contends that this is not a problem so long as they do not allow their personal views to skew their teaching. "In scholarship, of course, we give people wide latitude, and the same is true for classrooms, provided that it's not misused," he says.
In other words, the political science scholar observes, "in a way it's probably true to say that most faculty in the social sciences and humanities tend to be on the liberal side of the spectrum, but the issue is why should that be relevant to what they do in class."
Lakoff has expressed support for a "Students' Academic Bill of Rights" that is being forwarded by conservative activist David Horowitz, and which is being used as model legislation in several states.
