This week is Political Correctness Week, sponsored by the Bruin Republicans, or as I prefer to think of it, ubiquitous irony week.
I do not want to mock the intentions of the Bruin Republicans. If I did, I’d call it hypocrisy week.
But Political Correctness Week is satirical, intended to point out the irony that higher education ““ the supposed free-marketplace of ideas ““ is all too often sterilized to give students more politically correct curricula.
Campus conservatives often take after Students for Academic Freedom, a community within the David Horowitz Freedom Center that authored the popular, if not controversial, Academic Bill of Rights. The center is also seemingly always at the forefront of PC-awareness programming, which is typically an exploration of traditionally politically “incorrect” viewpoints.
Of course, nothing is that simple or hyperbolic. But there is some empirical evidence to support their case.
According to a 2002 report from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, there has been a rather dramatic shift to the left in terms of students’ attitudes about a variety of issues (such as legalizing marijuana and abolishing capital punishment). Since the early ’80s, “there has been a gradual separating of the left and right, with the left enjoying a considerable advantage that has widened substantially during the past five years.”.
But it’s not so much the imbalance of student opinions that rankles student conservatives. Any student can look at a map of red and blue states and guess what they’re likely to find in college. It’s not the message, it’s the messengers. The most troubling charge levied by the Academic Bill of Rights suggests liberal-faculty agendas and the “I-word”: indoctrination.
“American imperialism, radical feminism, racial preferences, environmental hysteria … why do these issues deserve sacred status?” asks David Lazar, chairman of the Bruin Republicans and former Viewpoint columnist. “Why are these things taken at face value without being held into question?”
A report from “The American College Teacher 2001-02″ concluded that there has been an increasing polarization over the years in faculty political views.
There has also been a movement toward “liberal” or “far left” political views, especially among women faculty, of whom 54 percent identify as such, up from 45 percent in 1989. In comparison, 44 percent of male faculty identify themselves as “liberal” or “far left,” up from 41 percent in 1989. Appeasing conservative critics, there does appear to be a liberal majority among U.S. faculty, and the polarization was (and perhaps still is) increasing.
This is not to say there aren’t bastions of conservatism on campuses, such as law or business schools. It’s also worth considering where UCLA stands on the political spectrum ““ are we a Berkeley or Bob Jones University? Are our faculty more Ward Churchill or Ward Connerly?
All too often, events like this week are overly and unnecessarily politicized. While many would find it ironic that campus Republicans are typically the ones bringing the issue of academic plurality and academic freedom to forum, conservatives likely find it ironic that higher education, which has gone as far as the Supreme Court in order to achieve demographic diversity, seems comparatively unconcerned with the ideological diversity on its campuses, or with the balance of dialogue within its classrooms.
But this week shouldn’t be about agreeing with viewpoints, it should be about these viewpoints being voiced and heard. It could just as easily be (and likely is) student Democrat groups at universities like Vanderbilt or BYU. The point is that minority opinions need to be voiced on every campus.
Again, it’s not about acceptance, it’s about a plurality of perspectives, no matter how politically incorrect or abhorrent they may be to you.
And lastly, for now, it’s ironic that a celebration of political correctness (even a satirical one) should only last a week ““ as if students should only challenge their beliefs and explore dissenting viewpoints during this week, as if it’s unhealthy or unproductive for discussion to reside outside of our comfort levels any other week.
The Bruin Republicans deserve credit for celebrating the unpopularity of their views. Even if their arguments don’t resonate with you, their courage deserves your empathy and ear. You may even learn a thing or two in the process.
E-mail Aikins at raikins@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu