[rmlew]

That the New Republic has attacked Columbia for its lack of political diversity is very important. This may be the first time that liberal alumni and parents accross the county are exposed to the realities at Columbia. Moreover, that a major liberal priodical has called Columbia's hiring practices a threat to academic liberty. Bollinger and Abrams can grasp at the first Ammendment (an arguement brilliantly ripped apart in a parody in the NY Sun ) but they are left only in a deadly embrace with the radical left. It is my hope that the Board of Trustees, perhaps with the encouragement of alumni, will step in before this affair damages Columbia.

[rmlew]

That the New Republic has attacked Columbia for its lack of political diversity is very important. This may be the first time that liberal alumni and parents accross the county are exposed to the realities at Columbia. Moreover, that a major liberal priodical has called Columbia's hiring practices a threat to academic liberty. Bollinger and Abrams can grasp at the first Ammendment (an arguement brilliantly ripped apart in a parody in the NY Sun ) but they are left only in a deadly embrace with the radical left. It is my hope that the Board of Trustees, perhaps with the encouragement of alumni, will step in before this affair damages Columbia.

[rmlew]

Columbia Ping

[rmlew]

Ping

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[Ohioan]

I have not looked at The New Republic for a long time. It was always a Leftist publication, perhaps a shade less intellectual in its approach from the Left than the Nation, which though as far Left, seemed to have a tad greater objectivity.

All of that said, it is certainly something to note, when The New Republic questions the academic integrity of one of the major academic players in driving America to the Left throughout much of the Twentieth Century.

Frankly, I think the butchering of real Academic Freedom in America is not just a result of deliberate Leftist tactics intended to suppress real debate. It could not be accomplished--not to the extent that it has been--without the background of a general dumbing down of the discourse on political and social issues. To intelligent people, "politically correct" started out as a joke. It will never be more than a joke to anyone who can reason. Unfortunately, much of the population seems to have been put to sleep.

In an other era, a faculty married to a fixed position on a "hot" topic would be openly challenged and forced to debate its assumptions. Apparently the bastions of "Higher Education" in the East, today, do not understand the concept either of Academic Freedom, or free inquiry. Unfortunately, neither do most of those elsewhere in America. Although the areas of suppression may vary somewhat with the institution.

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