Republicans support Academic Bill of Rights

When he walked into one of his classes the first day this semester, sophomore Andrew Lauck was immediately struck by his professor's liberal bias. Lauck said the first words out of his professor's mouth were that he was an ultraliberal and he was proud of it.\n"I like the professor a lot after five weeks, but having that be the first thing out of his mouth is very offensive, especially having a (campus) position like I do," said the sophomore business major.\nEven after disclosing his story, the College Republicans chairman expressed concerns about naming the class because he is still enrolled.\nGrand Old Cause President and junior Chase Downham agreed that universities and professors tend to have liberal biases and sometimes they express their one-sided opinions in class.\n"I've been in classes where I've been told our conservative leaders have led us in bad directions," said Downham, a public affairs major in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. "I've (got) classes (with) subjects such as foreign policy where conservatives are presented as aggressive warmongers."\nIncidents such as these are why Lauck and Downham support the Academic Bill of Rights.\nThe bill is currently in the education committee at the Indiana Statehouse. The bill, if passed, would require professors to address a diverse range of ideas in course curricula and reading lists, and would prohibit professors from expressing their personal views in class. It would also prohibit universities from hiring, firing, promoting or giving tenure to professors because of their political or religious persuasions.\nSupporters of the bill, which was originally written by conservative interest group Students for Academic Freedom, said it protects students from indoctrination and professors from discrimination. Opponents argue the bill is actually interested in hiring conservative professors and promoting conservative ideas in the classroom.\n"(The bill is) something that is common sense that anyone could be in favor of," Downham said. "I personally believe that diversity ... goes beyond skin color, especially at a university, there's diversity of opinion."\nDownham added that everyone knows of a professor who teaches with a liberal slant.\n"Perhaps more liberal-minded people have gone into teaching," he said. "That's not necessarily a bad thing. What's harmful is when professors choose to present one side (of an issue or) when (they) try to push a set of beliefs on students."\nWhile Lauck and Downham both claim they've seen liberal biases in classes, College Democrats Communications Director sophomore Alex Sharp said in an e-mail he'd noticed professors go out of their way to remain as unbiased as possible.\n"With academia often criticized by the right for being 'too liberal' ... I think professors, especially political science professors, realize what people expect of them," said Sharp, a political science major. "IU has an outstanding political science department, and I honestly couldn't tell you who my teachers voted for."\nCurrently the bill refers specifically to the social sciences, humanities and arts, but IU Communication and Culture professor Robert Ivie said it could cover any discipline, including the natural sciences. Because the bill would require professors to "respect the uncertainty and unsettled character of human knowledge," Ivie said it could mandate biology teachers to cover creationism.\nDownham said the bill is necessary to ensure diverse ideas are taught in the classroom.\n"(There's) such a thing as intellectual diversity," he said. "It's crucial to fostering debate and independently minded people."\nSharp disagreed on bill's possible impact.\n"I think (the bill) would have a negative effect on classes," he said. "I don't think IU has a problem with this. This is an extremely diverse campus, and the University prides itself on that, as it should." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Stephanie Susman at ssusman@indiana.edu.