Affirmative action for conservatives?

For years, universities have struggled to make sure their policies and attitudes are both accommodating and attractive to a variety of regional, ethnic and religious groups. But now the stereotypically liberal American higher education system might begin to make an effort to incorporate another minority group into the arms of academia – the oft-perceived mortal enemies of free exchange and compassion, conservatives.\nWith the possible exceptions of Bob Jones University and Oral Roberts University, most American universities are staffed with faculty, who, more often than not, have decisively liberal viewpoints. And recently, there has been no shortage of outcries from professors who feel they were discriminated against or denied tenure because of their conservative beliefs. \nAccording to a study recently conducted at Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg and Elizabethtown College, there is a reason that liberals dominate higher education. Researchers surveyed a sample of those who identified themselves as liberals and those who identified themselves as conservatives and found that liberals value writing and intellectual discovery more than conservatives, who tend to instead focus on making money and raising a family. Conservatives are more likely, the study claims, to want a practical, money-generating degree like an MBA, while liberals are willing to spend years in pursuit of a Ph.D., or lifetimes in the university system as instructors, in pursuit of intellectual stimulation.\nSo should universities be working to change this? Does it limit academia to be comprised of instructors who tend to share many of the same perspectives? Since colleges work to attract minority hires, is it practical to try to attract more conservatives?\nTo us, it seems that the eternal battle between “raving liberals” and “soulless conservatives” should never have found its way into the classroom in the first place. In theory, students enroll in college to expand their minds, not to narrow their perspectives. Professors should never indoctrinate their students; rather, they should cause them to question their world views. One-sided teaching immediately alienates a sizable portion of the population and is therefore ineffective at educating the whole of society.\nInstead of attracting minority hires through incentives and bonuses, it would be much more effective to tweak certain aspects of the university system that currently drive conservatives away. For instance, colleges should work to ensure that the structure of the staffing system allows professors the flexibility to raise a family, in addition to pursuing their careers. As it stands, many conservatives feel that remaining in the university system long enough to get a Ph.D. encroaches on their ability to do so.\nBesides, it would be impractical to actively recruit conservatives. Say, for instance, that colleges offer scholarships and fellowships for conservative Ph.D. students. How, then, would they determine which applicants are truly conservative or liberal? Would they need to recite an oath of loyalty or prove their conservative persuasion by enclosing a snapshot of their George W. Bush action figure collection?\nSociety has enough problems as it is, so let’s all join hands, sing “Kumbaya,” stop limiting ourselves by accentuating the ideological splits within society and keep politics far, far away from the classroom.