Most of you are probably familiar with David Horowitz's op-ed in the Texan last month. Unfortunately, the Horowitz lobby has been able to take their ultra-conservative propaganda into our state Legislature.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, has introduced SCR 3, which will be heard today at the Senate committee on Higher Education, and is part of Horowitz's politically motivated attack on universities.
Horowitz is trying to convince the public that there is a crisis of political bias in college classrooms - one that needs to be solved by stifling the free exchange of ideas, which is so critical to higher education. His campaign is premised on the idea that students need to be protected from professors and the ideas they share in the classroom.
Horowitz's arrogance is stunning. He assumes that college students are a bunch of mindless zombies, following the lead of every theory that's put before us. He thinks we need so much protection and that professors shouldn't be able to introduce controversial material, discuss new ideas or propose theories that extend beyond the mainstream.
Imagine if we embraced Horowitz's approach throughout time - we'd still think the sun revolved around the earth, we'd still prescribe leeches to cure disease, and we'd still be pretty darn sure that all economics was based on the possession of gold.
Universities should enshrine the free exchange of ideas. Dialogue and debate are important to the classroom. People should share new ideas, figure things out and propose new theories. I pay a lot for a college education that challenges me and gives everyone the freedom to say, think and debate anything and everything.
David Horowitz and his cronies only want to hear what they preach - especially in the classroom. Although sometimes he pretends that his campaign is politically neutral, his ideological intentions are clear. He is constantly calling everyone who disagrees with him communist or totalitarian, and frequently alleges they are in a league with terrorists.
If it were up to Horowitz, women's, peace and ethnic studies would not exist, and professors would be scared to speak freely with their students.
SCR 3 is not about protecting conservative students from indoctrination or stopping a professor from giving a lower grade because of someone's politics. When Pennsylvania set up a committee to investigate academic freedom violations in the classroom, they found there were few, if any, problems and that legislation was not necessary. They would find the same conclusion if they examined Texas universities.
SCR 3 supports silencing debate and removing politics from the classroom. It's about distracting people from the real issues to promote Horowitz's political agenda. Worse yet, it's distracting people from the real problems that students on campus face.
We don't need people trying to solve a non-problem - we need them to make sure college is something that students can actually afford.
Hedayati is a government sophomore and a student representative for Campus Progress at the Center for American Progress.
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