American Universities: Conservatives Need Not Apply

madanthonywayne

madanthonywayne

Morning in America
Registered Senior Member
The University of Iowa has a uniquely realistic definition of diversity:
"The University of Iowa prohibits discrimination ... on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preference."
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It's that last category that has come into play of late. It has been interpreted as refering to political affiliation
But last May the question did arise, and in response an officer in Iowa's Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity named Jan Waterhouse clarified its meaning: "Associational preference within the University policy has been interpreted to include political affiliation."
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Yet, somehow, the history department has 27 Democrats and 0 Republicans.

I'm sure the University of Iowa is not alone in this practice of non hiring conservative. Heaven forbid they promote a diversity of thought. All history professors must agree that the US is evil and Bush is the devil. Certainly none should argue that the Vietnam War was just!

But it's definition of diversity has landed it in hot water. Recently a very qualified conservative applicant to the history department was not even offered an interview, while the job was offered to a guy with obviously lower qualifications. So the guy who didn't even get the interview has filed a complaint.

Mark Moyar, a historian with an impressive record: bachelor's degree from Harvard, doctorate from Cambridge; two books, one with Cambridge University Press; laudatory recommendations from distinguished historians; and a growing record of public commentary in national periodicals. He is also a conservative, and his thesis about the Vietnam War - that it was a noble cause that could have triumphed had the United States supported its allies more vigorously - falls well on the right side of things.

When Moyar was passed over for the job and discovered that others selected for interviews had demonstrably inferior records, he assumed that political affiliation did indeed affect his candidacy. He asked the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity to investigate. The office concluded that there was no evidence that Moyar's application "was evaluated differently because of his political affiliation and/or conservative ideology."

Well, of course, there wasn't. That's not how faculty deliberations work. Nobody says in a committee meeting, "This guy's on the right, toss him out." They look at the publications and letters, judge the applicant's angle on things, and then speak about him as "a bad fit for the department," "not innovative enough," and other such shifty judgments.
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As the article points out, it is not right to present such a one sided view in subjects such as history. In hard sciences, politics doesn't really matter (and guess what, you can find a lot of conservatives there, relatively speaking), but in the social sciences; your slant on things makes all the difference.
In hard-science fields, the issue isn't important, but in value-heavy areas of the humanities and history, political diversity is crucial. Students should hear the full range of opinion on open and controversial issues. Furthermore, employees and job candidates need to feel that their politics will not affect their status. That is why the non-discrimination statement includes "associational preference" in its list, and why "associational preference" covers political affiliation.

The university pledges to honor diversity, and "associational preference" is included among its kinds. This episode put the commitment to the test, and the university failed - not by not hiring him, but by denying there is any problem at all. 27-0 is just fine.
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Is it right that students should only be taught by professors who believe the Vietnam war was a crime against humanity? Or that private property is theft? Or that meat is murder? It's absurd to not have the only kind of diversity that matters. Diversity of thought. We've got plenty of diversity in melanin density in our universities, but no diversity of thought.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071010/OPINION01/710100351/1035/OPINION
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjdhZWM1NzFmZWQ4M2RmZWExN2NkOTNmN2FmZTY5MzY=
 
madanthonywayne said:
Is it right that students should only be taught by professors who believe the Vietnam war was a crime against humanity? Or that private property is theft? Or that meat is murder? It's absurd to not have the only kind of diversity that matters. Diversity of thought. We've got plenty of diversity in melanin density in our universities, but no diversity of thought.
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right wing wackos
always insisting that all opinions be given equal weight
establishing veracity of said opinions thru.....belief!

understand this
warmongerer
babykiller

war per se is a crime against humanity

dummkopf
 
Most likely very few Republicans are into academia as a profession
 
A longer tale of Moyar's woe. From the NY Sun, of all places:

Shapiro, Gary. "Mark Moyar, Historian of Vietnam, Finds Academe Hostile to a Hawk". NYSun.com. April 30, 2007. See http://www.nysun.com/article/53422​
 
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When Moyar was passed over for the job and discovered that others selected for interviews had demonstrably inferior records, he assumed that political affiliation did indeed affect his candidacy. He asked the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity to investigate. The office concluded that there was no evidence that Moyar's application "was evaluated differently because of his political affiliation and/or conservative ideology."

Well, of course, there wasn't. That's not how faculty deliberations work. Nobody says in a committee meeting, "This guy's on the right, toss him out." They look at the publications and letters, judge the applicant's angle on things, and then speak about him as "a bad fit for the department," "not innovative enough," and other such shifty judgments.
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So basically, since all of them are already liberal, they read each others minds and come to the conclusion that Moyar is unwanted?

Does that mean the next generation of Americans will all be anti-war, anti-premptive strikes?
 
S.A.M. said:
Most likely very few Republicans are into academia as a profession
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And why do you think that might be? Because us Republicans are so durn dumb?
Some conservative students said they cloak their political leanings to appeal to professors.... Conservatives say the abundance of Democratic professors affects course offerings, reading selections and class discussions, shaping impressionable minds.... Some conservative students complain their political views are not just absent, but criticized when professors show political cartoons mocking President Bush or allow Republican bashing.
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The enviroment in US universities is hostile to conservative, patriotic ideas. At least in the humanities. Most of the students I knew in math/science/business classes were conservative. But venture in the history department, and the damned profs were outright communists.
S.A.M. said:
So basically, since all of them are already liberal, they read each others minds and come to the conclusion that Moyar is unwanted?
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The point is, the guy has impressive credentials yet doesn't even warrent an interview. Clearly, it was because he dared to question the left wing othodoxy that reigns supreme at univerities in the US.
Does that mean the next generation of Americans will all be anti-war, anti-premptive strikes?
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Should the left wing wacko profs get their way, yes.

But at some point the rest of society needs to assert some control over these wack jobs and start defunding the anti-American propaganda machine that passes for humanities should they not clean up their acts.
 
To think the Vietnam War was a noble cause is not an impressive credential. It speaks to the delusional nature of "conservative" faith in an abstract world where America is always right.
 
Why do you think so many of these professors are liberals? Why don't more conservatives seek professorships? Those who can't teach. It's a sign of greater conservative success in the business world.
 
spidergoat said:
To think the Vietnam War was a noble cause is not an impressive credential.
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A nation helping one of it's international friends, when asked to do so, is not a noble cause? Should the US have said, "Oh, fuck, I ain't gonna' help protect y'all from those nasty commie northerners! Fuck ...you're on your own, buddy!" Is that what you'd have the US do when asked for help by international friends?

Baron Max
 
Why? said:
Why do you think so many of these professors are liberals?
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Talk is cheap ...almost anyone can do it. But actually going out into the world and accomplishing something is not so simple.

Liberals talk up a big game, but fail miserably with their grandiose plans! As far as I know in history, it's always been the more conservative people who have actually accomplished some of those grandiose plans.

Baron Max
 
spidergoat said:
The northerners were also Vietnamese.
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So? If the north wanted to be commies, fine, no one said much about it. The problem began when the north began to attack the south, and demand that they, too, become commies. The southerners didn't like that, didn't want to become commies, so they asked for help from their friends.

But you'd have refused to help your friends, wouldn't you, Spider?

Baron Max
 
We bombed Vietnam and Cambodia with B-52 strikes, killing indiscriminately, so don't talk to me about compassion.
 
Think about professors. Think about students. Students pay to go to college, they are consumers. The college environment panders to their desires and gives them free reign. This is a liberal atmosphere. Professors are just employees. But, they are paid to do what they like, i.e. show how smart they are to others. Professors again want to do what they want to do - and by teaching they get paid for it. Again, the liberal mindset. "It's about me!" Conservatives are more willing to do things because others tell them to, and hence, are willing to enter the business world where markets demand that slavish attention to other's desires.
 
Why? said:
Think about professors. Think about students. Students pay to go to college, they are consumers. The college environment panders to their desires and gives them free reign. This is a liberal atmosphere. Professors are just employees. But, they are paid to do what they like, i.e. show how smart they are to others. Professors again want to do what they want to do - and by teaching they get paid for it. Again, the liberal mindset. "It's about me!" Conservatives are more willing to do things because others tell them to, and hence, are willing to enter the business world where markets demand that slavish attention to other's desires.
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No, its because typically the hardline conservative side of politics is no longer universally accepted in an educational atmosphere devoid of religion, I bet if you looked at private religious colleges you would see alot more conservative profs
 
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