The Root of the Problem

By The Editorial Staff

The editorial and senior staff of Gburgforum.com, have made the decision not to repost the controversial Op-Ed piece entitled, “Leftists on Parade.” We did not make this decision lightly, and many factors attributed to it.

After reviewing message board dialogues and various other responses to the piece, we have determined that the potential for constructive dialogue to arise from this situation is slim, at best. As such, petty attacks, character assassination, and various other counterproductive activities are likely to ensue, and already have to a large extent.

We are not looking to duck discussion or responsibility regarding the piece. We accept and acknowledge that there were differing opinions over the content of the Op-Ed, as well as the manner in which the original intent of the piece was expressed. It was intended to be a farce, based on the general opinions of those involved, that the classes selected were grounded in, or had the overwhelming potential, to be taught from a decidedly liberal viewpoint. This message was clearly lost in the controversy over the manner of presentation.

The staff of Gburgforum.com maintains its stance that the intent of the piece was not to be racist or homophobic. It is not within our ability to control others reactions to our work, and we would not want that to be even a remote possibility. The offense felt by some who read the article was to others, humor and clear sarcasm. While we do not have statistical representation of this divergence, it is fair to say that we received far more compliments on the piece than negative reactions. However, we have chosen to take those reactions seriously, and, in an effort to move forward with more important issues and pressing items, have removed the piece permanently.

However, we would like to point out that the mixed reactions point to a larger issue. While some felt that the error of our ways lay in the fact that the piece was not research based (we understand that, but chose to construct it using only the class summaries, as this is the same general material available to all students), others criticized the fact that we labeled classes as being “liberal,” without taking them or talking to professors. These deductions were made from the general descriptions and the obvious nature of these classes to people who fall on the conservative side of the spectrum.

The more challenging issue that we must address is one of academic freedom, and the rights of students in the classroom. In the past week, members of the staff have heard multiple stories alleging liberal bias in the classroom. One student reported being called a “racist,” in class for not supporting government funded integration policies in present day America. Later in the same week, he was criticized for expressing his support for Israel. A student who was a mere acquaintance of another staff member remarked that he had dropped his Political Science major because he was intimidated in class and could not feel comfortable expressing his views. Other students have told of being shouted down in class for questioning partisan assertions about the Iraq War, receiving comments on exams for being “overly militaristic,” and being dragged into modern day politicized debates in history classes addressing the 19 th century. This is a serious issue, and one that is not recognized by the larger academic community.

Gettysburg College seems to be moving towards addressing some of this problem. On Wednesday, April 13 th, the newly formed chapter of NOW (National Organization for Women) is holding a discussion on Academic Freedom in the Junction, from 11:30-1:00 PM, inspired by a talk given at the Conservative Conference by David French, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Additionally, The College Republicans are keeping tabs on Pennsylvania State Representative Gibb Armstrong’s progress in passing an Academic Freedom Bill for college students. While this would apply to public universities, hopefully private institutions would follow suit and adopt their own forms of this bill.

We may be accused of turning the focus of the controversy away from the original piece, but this was the problem we were looking to address. Conservative students often feel intimidated in class, and the presence of ten classes that many conservatives foresee as being liberally biased not only limits their academic options, but reinforces the idea that colleges and universities are not open to ideological divergence. This was the intent of the piece, and we stand by that original intent. Rehashing the manner in which it was presented will only be counterproductive to making Gettysburg a more diverse ideological community of higher education.

Although these links are oriented toward conservative viewpoints, they are helpful in understanding the larger movement for academic freedom on college campuses for both liberals and conservatives:

Patrolling Professors Politics

Campus Report Online

Students for Academic Freedom