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October 12, 2009, 02:00 PM ET

AAUP Defends Colleges' Labor Centers Against Conservative Attacks

The executive committee of the American Association of University Professors has issued a statement accusing the Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative legal-advocacy group, of threatening academic freedom by mounting challenges to labor-education centers at at least 11 public colleges. The foundation has been using public-records requests to investigate the centers' operations and, in some cases, has filed complaints alleging that, rather than serving the public good, the centers instead help unions and promote their ideology. The AAUP statement argues that educating potential union leaders is a legitimate academic endeavor and accuses Landmark of focusing on labor centers while ignoring academic centers that serve private business interests. Landmark's president, Mark R. Levin, issued a statement saying his group's investigations of the centers had brought to light "proven misconduct" and calling the AAUP a partisan special-interest group "whose members have their snouts deep in the public trough."

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Comments

1. rgriffith - October 12, 2009 at 03:23 pm

Should we also eliminate schools of business?

2. crunchycon - October 12, 2009 at 03:29 pm

AFSCME, whose union groups represent university support staff groups on many campuses, is apparently an arm of the democratic party. For nearly two years before the 2008 election, every issue's cover had either Clinton (Hillary) or Obama on the cover -- and all articles of a political nature or with any political commentary were pro democrat and *pointedly* anti-Bush and anti-republican. The AAUP is no less biased.

3. 12052592 - October 12, 2009 at 03:31 pm

"snouts deep in the public trough"? Sounds like they described every major business corporation in America.

4. blue_state_academic - October 12, 2009 at 03:34 pm

". . .calling the AAUP a partisan special-interest group 'whose members have their snouts deep in the public trough.'"

oooh, so snarky!

5. dmjohnson - October 12, 2009 at 04:00 pm

Hey crunchycon - going to the trouble of educating oneself and keeping up on issues does indeed lead to a bias. It's a bias towards intelligent and informed opinions.

That a conservative think tank would attack the few labor centers in higher education, where business schools are so prominent, clearly indicates the opposite bias.

D Johnson

6. 11132507 - October 12, 2009 at 04:15 pm

Boy, Republicans sure have been cranky lately. Adjust your dosage and get back to doing something useful, folks.

7. haohtt - October 12, 2009 at 04:28 pm

Yes, the Republicans have been pretty cranky since they lost the White House. They sound about as cranky as the Democrats were when they lost the White House :-) The more things change the more they remain the same.

8. jack_433 - October 12, 2009 at 05:21 pm

Test

9. jack_433 - October 12, 2009 at 05:22 pm

So, for those of you are business hater, take business out of the equation and take business schools off campuses and what will you have? The country will look like Uganda and your GenEd faculty will have two people.

10. crunchycon - October 12, 2009 at 05:34 pm

dmjohnson -- if you understood more, you wouldn't make such a snarky comment. Living life with one's head in the clouds in socialist utopia doesn't make one informed, just on too high a dose of meds. I was a liberal/libertarian in college, but I grew up and understood reality.

11. jaysanderson - October 13, 2009 at 12:58 pm

AAUP operates with a Democratic bias? Yes. The Landmark group biased the other direction? Yes. I don't mind legal challenges to any institution--anything that can't stand up under the light of scrutiny is likely flawed. Those things that are challenged, but are legitimate, have nothing to fear. Get over yourselves, AAUP--what, your position on issues is not to be questioned?

12. davidgmartin - October 13, 2009 at 08:36 pm

Isn't it funny that Landmark is called conservative and AAUP is called ...? Bias?