Machiavelli: As you point out, it’s sad that many universities no longer teach HOW to think, but WHAT to think.

And like J. Wesley many of us who have expressed unabashed conservative viewpoints in school have also been faced with discrimination of varying degrees.

We could probably start an entire comment stream of examples from readers who were singled out for daring to have views which ran counter to the politically correct orthodoxy at their school.

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While my years as an undergrad, and then as a graduate student (and hopefully as a Ph.D. in the future) were some of the most enjoyable times of my life; when entering the university environment it is necessary to have one’s values and core beliefs locked firmly in place.
In better days, universities were places where students went to learn facts, and develop their own view of the world. Today, many professors and administrators seem to have the twisted belief that their job is to teach a view of the world, and only expose students to the facts (and sometimes fictions), that support said view of the world.
I took the time go look at the top 5 “winners” of the Campus Outrage award, and were it not for the pure hypocrisy shown by Duke, I would argue that the #2 position held by Delaware is actually far more damaging to students. Given that it was part of a mandatory orientation program, you’re automatically insinuating that the University somehow looks down on the students simply because of the color of the (white) skin. Reverse discrimination at its finest!
J. Wesley makes a good point as well above; in graduate school where you’ve working closer with your professors, and your entire grade may rise and fall on a single research project for the quarter, being a neo-con can be a risky proposition. You very quickly learn which professors actually want to hear your opinions, and how to couch your arguments so as not to offend those who might subscribe to identity politics in the room. It’s a sad thing, but even with some of the professors whose classes I most enjoyed, I felt unable to express my view-points fully, or push a line of argument because I wanted / needed to maintain my high GPA.
I’m not entirely sure what the remedy to this situation is, but I think that David Horowitz’s “Academic Bill of Rights” is probably a good place to start. Which I should note is opposed by radical faculties from coast to coast…

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I think it’s important to draw attention to “campus outrages”, but I think they obscure a much more serious problem on campus. The really dangerous PC stuff isn’t overt, it’s what you might call “soft discrimination.” At least during my experiences in grad school, I was rarely ever forbidden to discuss or research a topic. Instead, conservative ideas were greeted not with condemnation, but with distaste. They were “not relevant to the discussion,” “tacky,” “in poor taste,” “not sufficiently researched to be included in the discussion,” etc. Conservative ideas weren’t treated as wrong, per se, but as simply stupid and unspeakable. No one wants to be conservative in my grad program, because it has been declared inherently unfashionable.

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Yes it is. Breathtaking and disgusting…. But sadely, not uncommon in our centers for “higher learning”.

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I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it. We live in an upside down world.

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Wow…that’s just breathtaking stuff.

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