Friday, Mar 25, 2005 by Klaus

Conservatives Vote for Freedom from Intellectual Stimulation

A bill now making its way through the Florida Senate would give students legal standing to sue professors and universities if they felt their beliefs were not being properly respected during class. The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights, similar to a bill being considered in Ohio, is said to be modeled after the “academic bill of rights” proposed by ever-unpleasant conservative activist David Horowitz. A sponsor of the Florida bill, Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, cited an example of actionable behavior, “Some professors say, ‘Evolution is a fact.’” He then added, “arrogant, elitist academics are swarming” to oppose this bill.

While Baxley’s so-called “leftists” are “indoctrinating” their students, are the latter sitting in silent submission? To the contrary, the Academic Freedom Abuse Center, housed on the Students for Academic Freedom website, has been collecting student-submitted reports of “rights abuse.” Among them is a report by a student who complained because her professor suggested men and women might see colors differently. And, submitted last month, another complaint reads as follows:

This complaint applies to the discriminating nature of grading of my English teacher. She knows I’m an advancer of conservative ideas b/c I where a “W” t-shirt to class on sometimes. Ever since the 1st day of class when I wore my “W” shirt she has treated me cold and been discriminating in grading my essays. On the last one, I wrote about how family values in the books weve read aren’t good. I know the paper was pretty much great because I spell checked it and proofred it twice. I got an D- just because the professor hates families and thinks its okay to be gay.

While most colleges already have rules ensuring free expression, ACLU-Ohio says that such bills “would shift the responsibility … from highly trained faculty to the state government or the courts,” thus discouraging teachers “from teaching anything controversial.” A variation of the bill, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2003, has made inroads in other states.

(via MetaFilter)

categories: neocon shenanigans, the ignoranti


One comment (subscribe)

  1. Oh, BIG FAT BULLHONKY! (Obviously, that yelling is not directed at the authors of the blog.) What we’re moving toward is freedom from learning. It sounds as though the students in question are more interested in being further indoctrinated than in expanding their minds through exposure to new ideas. And the student whose complaint is quoted in the blog might consider taking a remedial writing course; if her academic arguments match the skill-level of her grammar, it’s a wonder that her paper was graded as high as it was.

    –Jen Willis on Mar 25, 2005 @ 8:05 am

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