On Tuesday during a meeting of University of Colorado Board of Regents, some board members raised the concern that conservative professors and ideas are basically nonexistent at CU-Boulder.
The liberal tendencies of our rival school is no secret, but it seems the culture they’ve fostered may be starting to be detrimental to their campus, with board member Jim Geddes saying that conservative scholars “just aren’t welcome here,” the Denver Post reports.
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While there doesn’t seem to be any specific evidence of problems caused by a lack of a conservative presence, board member Sue Sharkey said she has been told by both faculty and staff that CU-Boulder is intolerant of conservative political philosophies and views, saying students fear how expressing their opinions will reflect on their grades.
College is a place to learn, grow and have your beliefs challenged. If an entire campus is pushing the same worldview and is primarily attracting students with similar ideologies while those with contrary views never speak up, where is the room for debate and critical thinking so intrinsic to higher education?
One of the guiding principles for the University of Colorado is to “Promote faculty, student and staff diversity to ensure the rich interchange of ideas in the pursuit of truth and learning, including diversity of political, geographic, cultural, intellectual, and philosophical perspectives.”
Diversity of opinion is important in every classroom. Even more important is being able to express that opinion without fear of retribution, or being able to find a position at a university without adhering to their ideology.
Luckily we do things a little differently here at CSU, where diversity of opinion abounds and you can always find somebody to have a lively discussion with.
