"Academic Freedom"

Charles Crossland

“[Universities] are based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”
—Thomas Jefferson


In 1987, I was taught by my university geography professor that, “Soviet-style socialism works, and it was a far more preferable and equitable system than our own!” I originally disagreed with this line of thinking on almost all counts, but after an entire semester of exposure to this socialist propaganda, I started to doubt everything I had previously known. This professor expressed his beliefs with such conviction, how could I, a lowly 18 year-old freshman know better than this man as to the ways of the world. In hindsight I really don’t remember anything about geography that was taught in that geography class. All I remember is this professor taking every opportunity to glorify all things Marxist and condemn the evils of American “capitalist imperialism”. That is not education, that is indoctrination. Well it took me a lot of years and a lot of paychecks to finally purge that Marxist drivel from my skull. That all happened nearly twenty years ago and the situation at our universities has only gotten worse since. I believe it was all totally unnecessary, and in my opinion it has to change.

Only since the sixties has political rhetoric on college campuses been deemed a hallmark of academic freedom. Professors prior the sixties were encouraged to keep personal politics out of their teaching as a matter of professionalism. Those days are long gone. An professor’s personal political opinions are considered curriculum now… think about that for a while. Supposed “Humanities” classrooms are now nothing more than podiums designated for spreading exclusively leftist political propaganda. I remember many instances in the aforementioned geography class, where any student who dared question the doctrine as laid out by this professor were angrily shouted down either by the professor or by one of his many brainwashed disciples posing as students. Tolerance for dissent exits stage left whenever Marxism is the topic of discussion. To a young, impressionable mind, this type of situation can do more damage than you can imagine. Of course, the whole scheme is sanctioned under the mantra of “academic freedom”.

Taxpayers and parents alike should not be forced to foot the bill for any institution that tolerates this type of political intimidation and indoctrination. I for one will not send my children to a university strait out of secondary school. I would prefer they attend a trade school, and then actually work in the world for a few years. Then if they choose to attend university, I will gladly pay for it. My reasoning is that the foundation of modern academia wholly relies on the naivete of its student body. Students must arrive with no first-hand knowledge of the world, and therefore no real chance of effectively combating the propaganda wave that is about to wash over them. Why would anyone knowingly subject his or her children to lies? This isn’t a question of broadening horizons; this is a question of abuse. Sending your child, fresh out of high school, to a public university is tantamount to sending them to a Soviet gulag to be educated. Yes, eventually they will learn that what they were taught in “college” was all crap, but I won’t risk that. I intend to inoculate my children with a healthy dose of reality before sending them off to the university. Only then will they have the adequate life experience to combat the prevalent socialist slacker mentality and begin to effect change for the better on campus. Universities have been turning America's youth into slogan-spewing malcontents for the last forty-plus years. It is time we put a stop to it. Only when parents and taxpayers start to speak out will we be able to eradicate politics from our college campuses, and free them again to educate, not indoctrinate.