Liberal Academia III

Last night the MSM played catch-up to the blogosphere. Some of the talking heads have mentioned the problem of liberal bias at academic instutions, but I have not previously seen a good piece on television.

ABC World News Tonight featured a short 3 minute investigation, primarily into the censorship of "The Passion of the Christ" on certain campuses. However, in the report, filed by Dan Harris, ABC also touches on the general bias of instructors and faculty.

David French, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, points out, "The universities have been so captured by the left point of view, that you're going to get more political and intellectual diversity at your average suburban mega-church than you are at an elite university."

Dan begins his report with a graphic stating that 72% of academia self-identifies as left-leaning or liberal. I am not sure that there is anything wrong with this as an issue of diversity. Many have suggested that liberals are prone to prefer this type of work. I cannot disagree. Government jobs in general are probably more likely to be held by a liberal looking for an opportunity to redistribute wealth and expand the role of the government.

However, Todd at the VC makes the argument that it is not the opinion of the instructor that creates a hostile environment. The absence of dissenting opinions presented or tolerated in the classroom is the source of friction.

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