ACTA's Must-Reads
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Liberty at Liberty
The biggest higher education story over Memorial Day weekend was the decision by Liberty University, the evangelical Christian institution founded by the late Jerry Falwell, to derecognize its College Democrats. While private universities do have the right to restrict student and faculty expression -- and Liberty is crystal clear in its materials about exercising that right -- the decision is nonetheless unfortunate, as it is likely to make for a less vibrant intellectual environment on campus.
Even more unfortunate, from ACTA's perspective, is the attention this story is receiving relative to other key debates on our nation's campuses. Liberty is no bellwether or trendsetter in American higher education; indeed, it deliberately casts itself as a contrast to the academy at large. And while it is important for a university, in order to deserve the name, to allow student political groups of all stripes to make themselves heard, there is much more to a vibrant intellectual environment than partisan politics. That is why it was an outrage when the University of Delaware sponsored mandatory indoctrination in its dormitories, and that is why we should all be concerned that -- according to Brooklyn College professor KC Johnson and others -- entire subjects like diplomatic and military history are becoming endangered species. But the Washington Post never covered Delaware, and most cable news viewers have never -- even in this era of national security challenges -- heard the debate about the marginalization of military history at our universities.
What's the takeaway here? It is that no matter what gets reporters' and producers' attention, it is up to trustees (among others) to ensure that their institutions do foster the free exchange of ideas -- not only when it involves partisan politics, but also when it comes to the realm of ideas and scholarship. ACTA will shortly release a new publication designed to help in that effort.
Posted by Charles Mitchell on May 26, 2009 at May 26, 2009 06:14 PM
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