[Dr. Frank fan]

I guess that I will be one of the few who would be opposed to denying tenure just because someone is a "Marxist". I saw no indication from this or earlier articles about this case that the professor is a poor teacher; he lets his views be known in class, but that seems to be it. (Should he hide his views?)

Of course, there are other arguments one could have. For example, the existence of tenure in the first place. But in this case I guess I come down on the side of academic freedom. Let his ideas fall because they are stupid and debunked, not because he is hounded by the community (an act which only martyrs him and gives him attention). Let's also try to remember that the shoe could always be (and in most universities, usually is!) on the other foot. Denying tenure to, and cleansing departments of, conservatives is the norm. If you've read a great, sometimes-tragically-hilarious book called The Shadow University you know what I'm talking about. If not I recommend it.

[BikerNYC]

Let's also try to remember that the shoe could always be (and in most universities, usually is!) on the other foot.

When I was in law school, I was voted president of the Student Bar Association, as were a number of other conservatives. When it came time to set the budget for student groups for the next year, many of them wanted to slash the budgets of the more liberal groups. I held out and fought that, arguing that it was better to have more voices around and you never know when the same thing might happen to us. My view prevailed.

Sure enough, the next year more liberal people were elected to student government, and many of them tried to cut the budgets of the more conservative groups. The new liberal president, however, fought that and kept the funding of those groups as I had kept it for the liberal groups.