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Lonely Campus Voices
The New York Times ^ | 09/27/03 | David Brooks

Posted on 09/26/2003 8:50:22 PM PDT by Pokey78

Most good universities have at least one conservative professor on campus. When, for example, some group at Harvard wants to hold a panel discussion on some political matter, it can bring out the political theorist Harvey Mansfield to hold up the rightward end. At Princeton it's Robert George. At Yale it's Donald Kagan.

These dissenters lead interesting lives. But there's one circumstance that causes true anguish: when a bright conservative student comes to them and says he or she is thinking about pursuing an academic career in the humanities or social sciences.

"This is one of the most difficult things," says Alan Kors, a rare conservative at Penn. "One is desperate to see people of independent mind willing to enter the academic world. On the other hand, it is simply the case they will be entering hostile and discriminatory territory."

"Here's what I'm thinking when an outstanding kid comes in," says George, of Princeton. "If the kid applies to one of the top graduate schools, he's likely to be not admitted. Say he gets past that first screen. He's going to face pressure to conform, or he'll be the victim of discrimination. It's a lot harder to hide then than it was as an undergrad.

"But say he gets through. He's going to run into intense discrimination trying to find a job. But say he lands a tenure-track job. He'll run into even more intense discrimination because the establishment gets more concerned the closer you get to the golden ring. By the time you come up for tenure, you're in your mid-30's with a spouse and a couple of kids. It's the worst time to be uncertain about your career. Can I really take the responsibility of advising a kid to take these kinds of risks?"

The most common advice conservative students get is to keep their views in the closet. Will Inboden was working on a master's degree in U.S. history at Yale when a liberal professor pulled him aside after class and said: "You're one of the best students I've got, and you could have an outstanding career. But I have to caution you: hiring committees are loath to hire political conservatives. You've got to be really quiet."

Conservative professors emphasize that most discrimination is not conscious. A person who voted for President Bush may be viewed as an oddity, but the main problem in finding a job is that the sorts of subjects a conservative is likely to investigate — say, diplomatic or military history — do not excite hiring committees. Professors are interested in the subjects they are already pursuing, and in a horrible job market it is easy to toss out applications from people who are doing something different.

As a result, faculties skew overwhelmingly to the left. Students often have no contact with adult conservatives, and many develop cartoonish impressions of how 40 percent of the country thinks. Hundreds of conservatives with Ph.D.'s end up working in Republican administrations, in think tanks and at magazines, often with some regrets. "Teaching is this really splendid thing. It would be great to teach Plato's `Republic,' " says Gary Rosen, a Harvard Ph.D. who works at Commentary magazine.

Despite all this, George advises his best and toughest students to go ahead. "We need to send our best soldiers into battle, even though we're going to lose a few," he says. "I hate to tell kids they shouldn't take risks, they shouldn't go for their dreams."

Others say it is possible to have a satisfying career and do good work if you learn not to fly straight into the prevailing ideology. "Conservatives are people who teach the value of prudence but are incapable of exercising any," says Mark Lilla, a politically unclassifiable professor at the University of Chicago.

And Jacob T. Levy, a libertarian also at Chicago, says some conservatives exaggerate the level of hostility they face. Some politicized humanities departments may be closed to them, he concedes, but professors in other fields are open to argument.

If it were my kid, I'd say go to graduate school — read the books you want to read. Then go to Washington, where you won't feel embattled because you'll exchange ideas with liberals and others in a more intellectually diverse setting. You'll probably end up doing more good.

Last week the professors at Harvard's government department reviewed the placement records of last year's doctoral students. Two had not been able to find academic jobs, both of them Mansfield's students. "Well," Mansfield quipped, "I guess they'll have to go to Washington and run the country."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: academia; alankors; college; davidbrooks; discrimination; dissenters; diversity; donaldkagan; education; harveymansfield; highereducation; monopolies; pc; robertgeorge

1 posted on 09/26/2003 8:50:23 PM PDT by Pokey78
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To: Pokey78
"Last week the professors at Harvard's government department reviewed the placement records of last year's doctoral students. Two had not been able to find academic jobs, both of them Mansfield's students. "Well," Mansfield quipped, "I guess they'll have to go to Washington and run the country."

My guess is that, in the end, one must be true to one's self. We must be what and who we are and not attempt to fit into a mold that someone else has constructed for us.

In my opinion, nothing can be less rewarding than living up to someone else's expectations. As for me, I had rather sweep floors and be in possession of my own thoughts than to earn millions and be forever beholden to the ideology of another.

2 posted on 09/26/2003 9:08:44 PM PDT by davisfh
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To: Pokey78
INTREP - EDUCATION
3 posted on 09/26/2003 9:21:49 PM PDT by LiteKeeper
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To: Pokey78
This article states almost exactly why I left the History profession.
4 posted on 09/26/2003 9:38:11 PM PDT by bat1816
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To: Pokey78
There is another consequence of this kind of bias. The fact is that although liberals rule the world of academia, most people who own and run businesses are conservative. The end result is that those of us in "the real world" have become less and less impressed by diplomas, relying more on real ability as demonstrated by people working on projects in the real world.

Sure, the big companies demand that increasingly worthless sheepskin, but the majority of employers in America are small businesses that employ less than fifty people. Once upon a time a degree was something that gave you an edge over other people when you were looking for a job. Nowadays that degree is becoming less of an edge and more of a millstone.

For the real kicker, factor in what that degree costs to obtain. What a rip off! You want to "visualize world peace", young college graduate? Here's a challenge, why not visualize how long you are going to be paying off your student loans!
5 posted on 09/26/2003 9:40:13 PM PDT by Elliott Jackalope (We send our kids to Iraq to fight for them, and they send our jobs to India. Now THAT'S gratitude!)
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To: Pokey78
A person who voted for President Bush may be viewed as an oddity, but the main problem in finding a job is that the sorts of subjects a conservative is likely to investigate — say, diplomatic or military history — do not excite hiring committees.

This has been true for a while. Look for actual military history or diplomacy courses and you'll find an older male (60+) conservative history professor about 99.99% of the time.

That sort of thing...history of empires, of great men, etc....is horribly uncool these days.

What is cool is studying the most mind-numbingly trivial and dull thing that you can connect to political correctness; thus, in a history department, you'll find all the young and middle-aged profs, and all the women, teaching "The Role of Lesbian Women in Ottoman Society in the 14th Century" and whatnot.

6 posted on 09/26/2003 9:50:10 PM PDT by John H K
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To: davisfh
Interesting that this is a column from the Times' new Op-Ed guy. I hope Brooks keeps this kind of column coming...
7 posted on 09/27/2003 8:10:52 AM PDT by Pharmboy (Dems lie 'cause they have to...)
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To: Black Agnes; rmlew; cardinal4; LiteKeeper; Lizard_King; Sir_Ed; TLBSHOW; BigRedQuark; yendu bwam; ..
Leftism on Campus ping!

If you would like to be added to the Leftism on Campus ping list, please
notify me via FReep-mail.

Regards...
8 posted on 09/27/2003 9:39:57 AM PDT by Hobsonphile (Art should celebrate God's creation. Writers should love humanity in all its forms.)
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To: Pokey78
I've just started my Ph.d program at U of Minnesota, and so far I've put myself "in the closet" politically, so to speak. The first thing I did when I moved into my new office was take down the "WELLSTONE!" banner which was hanging above my desk, but I otherwise haven't done anything which would set off alarm bells. Oddly enough, when I did my Master's degree at Wayne State, the liberal faculty not only actually welcomed hearing my dissenting views, they practically demanded it.
9 posted on 09/27/2003 12:10:09 PM PDT by RightWingAtheist
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To: Pokey78; bmauer
ping
10 posted on 09/27/2003 12:57:15 PM PDT by dennisw (G_d is at war with Amalek for all generations)
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To: RightWingAtheist
You describe perfectly what I see in academia. I did my M.A. at University of Minnesota and wrote papers from a variety of positions. The key to success in academia is to support your claims with good evidence and good reasoning, taking into account the various other positions that are out there and positioning yourself in relation to them. There are no presuppositions about what is acceptable and not acceptable other than that your work follows the guidelines established by the discipline for "quality" (which is the main issue -- P.C. is not the issue)
11 posted on 09/27/2003 1:42:50 PM PDT by bmauer
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To: RightWingAtheist
One more point: if one goes through school holding onto to one's ideology for dear life ("I will retain a conservative position on this issue no matter what") one is refusing to engage fully the learning process. If one's views cannot be changed no matter what evidence and arguments challenge them and no matter how powerful the challenge, then one is refusing to learn.

I am a successful scholar because I am willing to have my views changed if confronted with a better argument than the one I hold.
12 posted on 09/27/2003 2:12:01 PM PDT by bmauer
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To: Pharmboy
"Interesting that this is a column from the Times' new Op-Ed guy."

Yes, isn't it. I wonder how long he'll last or will he remain on the payroll as a "token" conservative. Assuming, of course, that he is, in fact, a conservative. Time will tell.

13 posted on 09/27/2003 8:27:33 PM PDT by davisfh
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To: Pokey78
Some politicized humanities departments may be closed to them, he concedes, but professors in other fields are open to argument.

Like the physical sciences? Where no one cares about politics at all?
14 posted on 09/27/2003 8:29:36 PM PDT by July 4th
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To: Pokey78
This was an excellent, objective summary of what's happening at universities. Sadly.
15 posted on 09/28/2003 12:09:27 AM PDT by The Westerner
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