MOBILE REGISTER EDITORIAL DEPLORES BAN OF CONSERVATIVE PUBLICATION

Mobile Register ^ | January 21, 2004 | Mobile Register Editorial Board

[Austin Willard Wright]

Mobile Register

Editorials

Universities should foster public debate

01/21/04

University of Alabama administrators are being small-minded about faculty dissent on the Tuscaloosa campus. A university's role should be to stimulate discussion, not to suppress it.

UA's target is the Alabama Scholars Association, the state chapter of a national conservative faculty organization that challenges colleges and universities on a number of issues, including grade inflation, term limits for administrators and gender and race preferences in faculty hiring.

Whether university administrators agree with the Scholars Association or not, they should welcome free discussion on issues that go to the core of a quality education.

But that's not what UA administrators are doing. They banned the association from distributing its newspaper, The Alabama Observer, through The free campus mail system, and they're refusing to give the group data on grades.

The administrators may have the right to ban the group's newspaper from the campus mail, though they appear mean-spirited in doing so. However, to be fair (and legal) they would have to ban all non-university organizations, not just the Scholars Association. And they seem to have done that, because they also told the more-liberal Alabama chapter of the American Association of University Professors that it, too, must pay postage to distribute its newsletter through the mail system.

But why does the university fear unrestricted dialogue? Are administrators scared of the power of ideas? It appears so. The UA administrators banned the Observer after it published data that shows what appears to be gross grade inflation in some academic departments. According to the Scholars Association analysis, the women's studies department gave A's to nearly 80 percent of the freshmen and sophomores who took its courses last year.

That's an amazing achievement considering that only 11 percent of the freshmen and sophomores who took biology classes made A's. This year, the administrators refused to give the organization access to the data, lamely claiming they don't have the funding to push a button on a computer to compile it. That's ridiculous.

Granted, the director of UA's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, William Fendley, questioned the validity of the Scholars Association's analysis. He would have the public believe his preposterous assertion that students taking women's studies courses are a lot smarter than those taking biology classes, or that teachers in the women's studies department are so much better than those in the biology department that students naturally do better. If the UA administration believes the Alabama Scholars group hasn't analyzed the data correctly, it should present its own analysis rather than make such ridiculous assumptions.

Unfortunately, UA isn't the only public university that tries to cover-up embarrassing information. Auburn University, for example, has a recent history of administrators and trustees who wrongly think that university affairs should be kept from the public. But taxpayers, faculty and students deserve better.

[blam]

Mobile bump.

[Austin Willard Wright]

Freedom of speech bump

[Blood of Tyrants]

But why does the university fear unrestricted dialogue?

Because just like Islam, when confronted with freedom and truth, they simply cannot compete.

[bourbon]

update ping.

[petitfour]

Thanks for the ping. I wanna know whether the University spokesperson who said the group could not distribute their newsletter via the campus postal service was telling the truth. If she was, then the group needs to quit fussin' and distribute another way. It's not that difficult to go around the entire campus to every department to put the things in faculty boxes. The University is not prohibiting the speech. They're just putting up stumblingblocks. And what's wrong with email newsletters???????????

As far as the University saying it costs too much to compile the stats, well, that's a bunch of baloney!

[Eva]

I bet that ethnic studies majors have amazingly high grades, as well. I have a friend whose daughter swithched to this major to ensure admittance to law school at U. of WA.

[Austin Willard Wright]

UA doesn't have ethnic studies as such. One of the worst offenders, other than Women's Studies, is the College of Education.

[Austin Willard Wright]

The University doesn't have an ethnic studies department as such. One of the worst offenders in grade inflation, the College of Education, has many courses of this type, however.