May 13, 2008

U. of Colorado at Boulder Wants to Hire 'Professor of Conservative Thought'

The chancellor of the University of Colorado at Boulder hopes to raise $9-million to endow a faculty chair for a professor of conservative thought and policy.

According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal, the chancellor, G.P. (Bud) Peterson, believes the new chair would help create “intellectual diversity” on the campus.

Activists like David Horowitz have been pushing that concept for years, amid complaints that the professoriate is full of liberals. But, in the article, Mr. Horowitz is quoted as saying that creating such an endowed chair might simply establish a place on the campus for a token right-winger. And as Mr. Peterson notes, the professor might not even be a genuine conservative, just a scholar of the movement.

Boulder has long had a reputation as a hotbed of liberal activism. Last year the university’s regents voted to fire Ward Churchill, an ethnic-studies professor who six years earlier said that businessmen killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks were legitimate targets because they were “little Eichmanns.” —Robin Wilson

Comments

1. Come January 9, UC Boulder will have the pick of the litter, and they’ll all have White House experience. Good to know that UC is striving to be fair and balanced.

   — Eric    May 13, 03:15 PM    #

2. Yeah Eric, just like FOX news. Fair and balanced.

   — Fox in Hen house?    May 13, 03:26 PM    #

3. And this from the university that brought us Ward Churchill? PCU should actually strive to hire professors who actually teach and research, and not those who wear their politics on their sleeves.

   — GS    May 13, 03:32 PM    #

4. That poor professor will be mighty lonely in the People’s Republic of Boulder.

   Yes, mother hen in a fox suit, just like Fox News. I think the thing that motivates me to watch Fox News the most is that ultra liberals seem to whine and complain about it constantly—Fox must be doing something right.

   — Pat    May 13, 03:33 PM    #

5. Where will they find conservative thinkers? Would that be like finding square circles?

   — M    May 13, 03:39 PM    #

6. It’s a shame, truly, that it’s come to this. We are a partisan country, plain and simple. That said, anyone with an objective eye and ear can discern the clearly leftist bias in modern academia. I suppose in that regard a move like this is only fair, but the concern over the lone “token liberal” is duly noted.

   Tangent: Fox in Hen House-You’re absolutely right, Fox News is not “Fair and Balanced”, nor should they be. The obvious liberal bias in NBC, ABC and CBS news has been presented for over 20 years now. One network out of four is hardly cause for alarm, my friend. Everyone wants to “expose” Ruport Murdock and his convservative agenda. I’m fine with that, provided we first recognize the clearly liberal agenda in the other networks.

   Bottom Line: NO ONE reports the news without bias, save for MAYBE a few lone internet wannabe’s. It’s time for all of us to get real and stop pointing fingers.

   — fair play    May 13, 03:45 PM    #

7. Correction: Meant to say “token Conservative”

   — fair play    May 13, 03:48 PM    #

8. It sounds more like the university is trying to pander directly to those “fair and balanced” folks of the neoconservative movement. The vast majority or academics are not flaming liberals nor heartless conservatives: they’re professional people who work hard on their teaching, research and service in the industry they love. Yes, they have ideas and opinions and yes they are expressed in the classroom. In truth, however, most have the intelligence and integrity to evaluate students fairly regardless of the students’ opinions. If people like Mr. Horowitz really spent time with real, regular faculty members he would see that for himself.

   — F. J.    May 13, 03:50 PM    #

9. Wow — isn’t this a little late for April Fool’s Day? Peterson’s not serious about this, is he?

   — Don    May 13, 04:11 PM    #

10. FOX News is more “fair and balanced” than CBS News – for sure, and more balanced than the New York Times, for that matter!

    — bob w    May 13, 04:24 PM    #

11. Bob w—what world are you living in? FOX News is a travesty and every other network, including CBS News, is more professional and balanced in their coverage.

    — University of Wisconsin grad    May 13, 04:32 PM    #

12. I believe that the UC of Boulder department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is changing its name to something less political. Reports have it that they are also looking for an endowed professor of Creationism as well as a professor of Pollution Advocacy in order to create some balance. Meanwhile angry trustees feel that Peace and Conflict Studies is tipping the balance way too much in favor of Peace. In order to hear more from those who believe that Conflict remains a very viable, if old fashioned, way to resolve problems, they are trying to identify little Eichmanns as possible candidates for another endowed chair. Ward Churchill may be acting on behalf of the search committee and presenting names of some excellent candidates. I, for one, applaud all these efforts.

    — David    May 13, 04:48 PM    #

13. $9-m for an endowed Chair in Conservative Thought…most fully endowed Chairs go for $2.5-million …them Conservatives sure don’t come cheap!

    — DJB-Boulder    May 13, 04:57 PM    #

14. Sigh…yet another sign that this once-great university continues its slide towards becoming a third-rate institution. TABOR, Republican state government, right-wing Regents…

    — J    May 13, 05:05 PM    #

15. Just how can liberals afford $30,000+ tuitions at the universities? Aren’t they supposed to be less rich?

    — Mike    May 13, 05:12 PM    #

16. Ref: #5
    M—That’s funny!!

    — Carefree1    May 13, 05:22 PM    #

17. Whether the title is “Chair of Liberal Thought,” “Chair of Conservative Thought” or “Chair of Moderate Thought,” this is a seriously dangerous trend. Are we moving toward a future in which departments will require adherence to a specific political agenda as a critierion of being hired, and then count the number of positions in each category in order to ensure balance? Will professors who hold such positions be expected to hold the same poliltical views over a 35-year career? It is admirable to work toward departments in which a diversity of opinions is expected, but hiring people on the basis of their commitment to a specific type of politics is not the best way to achieve such a goal.

    — John S. Mebane    May 13, 05:52 PM    #

18. From U Colo “Bolder” to U Colo Mollycoddle!

    — FEL    May 13, 05:54 PM    #

19. Ref: #11: You, my friend, are the one living on another planet. I see a lot more liberals interviewed with respect on Fox News than I see conservatives treated similarly on CBS, NBC, or ABC. Or CNN, for that matter. But the liberal positions are so “obvious” to liberals that you cannot see the slant that your media give to just about everything.

    And #5: This is a perfect example of the insufferable arrogance of many lefties, the self-defined elites of the blue states: anybody who disagrees with you is stupid as well as evil. Get a grip! Academics are theoretically supposed to discuss issues rationally and see both (all) sides.

    And No. 17: I agree that this is a disturbing state of affairs, and I do not welcome the U. Colo. move, especially with its proposed title. Do you see a problem when new faculty hires are required to be liberal, or leftist, or Marxist, or . . . in order to be appointed or tenured? But of course, the left-wing response to that is, “But liberals-Marxists are obviously qualified for their positions, and nobody who is so benighted as to hold conservative views is bright enough to teach here.” Gimme a break.

    — Bob    May 13, 06:12 PM    #

20. I recall when Horowitz was first stumping for his issue on increasing “intellectual diversity” on campus, my first thought was “what, we have too many geniuses on the faculty and we should hire a few morons?” Seriously, there is an issue of self-selection that others have addressed in different forums: namely, how many right-leaning individuals gravitate towards academe vs. business? I’m sure that there are conservative faculty, but the predominance of left-leaning instructors reflects the respective values of those on the left vs. right. Does any mandated political appointment serve to advance academe beyond what is currently in effect?

    — JC    May 13, 06:39 PM    #

21. Higher Education philosopher Sterling McMurrin said: “Academic Freedom is recognized as a guiding principle for university action not only because of its intrinsic worth for a free people but also because it is the main institution by which a society critically examines its own institutions and values in the search for a higher quality and adaptive pattern of life.” While there may be no harm in the proposed position by itself, what the academic community must guard is their responsibility to ensure the primary functions McMurrin calls for: criticism, revision and perpertuation of the scientific and social institutions of society as well as renewal and strengthening of the culture. These critical functions of the university will not be fulfilled by simply sustaining the conservative traditions of society.

    — Everett Frost    May 13, 07:10 PM    #

22. So is this identity politics, or is it enough to study conservative, fascist or authoritarian politics? Lots of radicals (like me) do that. And I’d like to live in Boulder.

    — LC    May 13, 08:57 PM    #

23. Liberal v. Conservative media: Making a profit is the number one job for both camps. I would say it makes them economic conservatives.

    — Jay    May 13, 10:13 PM    #

24. This doesn’t make sense. Professors of political theory teach all kinds of political theory, and not just “conservative” and “liberal” which are relatively recent monikers in the sense this chair seems to call for. Why would they need someone who identifies with this position and a title for the chair that makes that identification clear? If it’s not identity politics, then it’s not needed — plenty of faculty already teach about conservative positions.

    RE: mainstream news media — ABC, NBC, etc. None of these are liberal stations, and neither is the New York Times. Only the most narrow definition of “liberal” would fit these — have you never heard/read actual left-wing media sources? They talk about different angles and cover very different perspectives than Katie Couric et al do every night. You have to turn to alternative media to find left-wing perspectives.

    — Agalma    May 13, 11:32 PM    #

25. Why don’t they start with diversity – period. Boulder is the whitest place I’ve ever lived and I’m from New England! I think it makes them feel better to say they are all about diversity in the student and faculty populations but their actions against racism on campus don’t match up. What will “intellectual diversity” be? More snooty white people running the show – that sounds like a great idea! What are they thinking!

    — nalawala    May 14, 06:05 AM    #

26. What passes as “liberal” thinking in the US (e.g. universal health care) is accepted by conservative parties in Europe. To Scandinavians, for instance, the US MSM coverage appears right-leaning, and even so-called leftist academics appear more like moderate liberals. In the US, the MSM (like most Democrats and Republicans) effectively condone the notion that what’s good for Wall Street and “the Market” is good for everyone else. America needs to expand its ideological horizons. It’s time to abandon the 2-party system, and its neoliberal and neoconservative commitment to enriching an elite minority at the expense of the rest of the planet.

    — pharmakeus    May 14, 06:17 AM    #

27. Politics used to be about “the good of the country” or “the good of the people”. Now it’s red or blue and the country and people are worse off for it. To most of you partisan posters of both stripes above—you are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

    — John    May 14, 06:31 AM    #

28. Affirmative action for conservatives. I thought the market would bring conservatives into the academy. Or are private universities illegal? If we could somehow convince conservatives that the free market will solve all of our problems…

    — me    May 14, 07:42 AM    #

29. Perhaps I’m not seeing what everyone else here is, but it’s not clear to me what is the basis for controversy. To have somebody (presumably in the philosophy or political science departments) who specialises in, and can teach, the ideas of de Maistre, Hayek, von Mises or Oakeshott would seem to be a sensible thing, in the same way that the university already (one hopes!) has people who specialise in and can teach about the works and ideas of Locke, Mill, Marx or Rawls. Not so?

    — Gustave    May 14, 07:43 AM    #

30. Suppose that later this “Professor of Conservative Thought”
    develops some liberal opinions. Does the university fire him or her?

    — Roger    May 14, 07:45 AM    #

31. Isn’t studying the Dark Ages the same thing? And like “me” I am wondering what the conservatives would say about the affirmative action move? I hope they would denounce it as not being “free market”.

    — me 2    May 14, 08:25 AM    #

32. How refreshing. Just this past Monday my university put its senior administrators and managers through a required “diversity training” by NCBI. That training made it clear that the only people with prejudice in this country are white males.

    The liberal mantra exists everywhere it seems: “If you don’t think like we do, we will shout you down.” Gosh, didn’t Thomas Jefferson have something to say about that?

    — Jason    May 14, 08:29 AM    #

33. Let’s hope the Chair is not in economics! We already have too many of these with little or no research ability.

    — LJ    May 14, 09:02 AM    #

34. #32 – Yes, Thomas Jefferson did have something to say – I believe it was that “all men are created equal” except for those men (and women) he held as slaves. Not sure that Jeffereson can vbe characterized as liberal or conservative, but I believe he can be fairly characterized as a hypocrite (along with all of the other Founding Fathers except for Adams.) I guess any liberal or conservative thinker is susceptible to that human frailty.

    This is a psuedo-controversy. If we do our jobs well, students will learn to think critically and form their opinions (liberal or conservative or other) as they learn new information and have new experiences. Of course, we probably won’t do that very well if we focus on making our poliltical opinions the focus of our teaching.

    — Rick    May 14, 09:05 AM    #

35. I’m with pharmakeus (#26) on this one: ‘fair and balanced’ is highly subjective based on one’s own tendencies. ‘Us vs. Them’ ideologies are destroying free thought in politics (these days, that’s practically an oxymoron). The Republican and Democratic parties will always collude on one issue: suppressing the viability of other political parties. ‘First past the post’ leads to ‘lesser of two evils’ voting. Implement ‘instant runoff’ voting and a reasonable standard for debate participation and we will see much more diversity of thought in politics. Furthermore, we will stop seeing groups of people as ‘with us’ or ‘against us’.

    — a different Dan    May 14, 09:08 AM    #

36. The Chronicle promotes a contest to design the George Bush Library on the back of an envelope and awards its prize to the artist who portrays it as a hole in the ground. Surely there is no need to be concerned about liberal bias in academe.

    — Laurel    May 14, 09:16 AM    #

37. ref 19 (Bob):

    I’m not left-wing. I just enjoy mocking people. And if the concept of affirmative action for conservatives, who froth at the mouth at other kinds of affirmative action, isn’t inherently funny, then what is?

    — M    May 14, 09:26 AM    #

38. #19 – Academics are not supposed to see all sides. They are supposed to learn what all sides say and present the truth as they find it. There is a right and a wrong in the world. Equal time does not need to be given to those who reject logic.

    — K    May 14, 09:29 AM    #

39. A Chronicle article a week or two ago indicated perception of higher education faculty proselytizing in class was strongly correlated with older and non-college educated respondents, my guess being older respondents are less likely to have attended college. Younger and college educated respondents are much less likely to consider faculty to proselytize in the classroom. Indicated is, whatever the personal views of higher education faculty, they do not tend to purvey those views in class. We’re professionals who leave our ideology at the classroom door.

    — DVP    May 14, 10:00 AM    #

40. Pharmakeus (No. 26): You are the only one making sense here. Most of the other posts prove your point. The United States is enslaved with its two-party system and narrow definitions of what it means to be “liberal” and “conservative.” I’m disappointed. Here we have a conversation among putative scholars, and no one has bothered to define those two ubiquitous, yet little understood concepts.

    By the way: It’s CU-Boulder and not UC Boulder.

    — Deborah    May 14, 10:25 AM    #

41. I like the way people on the left like to see themselves as the voice of reason. Anyone who values things differently can’t think straight, are either rich or Nazis, and should leave their monopoly on education alone. Yeah, right.

    I love Boulder (I live very near only because I can not afford to live there) and I love the multiple bumper stickers per car telling me what to think, who to reject, who they hate, and how they can best demonize those with whom they disagree. Yeah, I’m persuaded by this tactic; group think around here is an Olympic sport.

    — -J    May 14, 10:46 AM    #

42. This is so stupid. How about a Chair of Well Meaning But Incredibly Poorly Thought Out Initiatives at State Universities?

    — Fla Fla Flooey    May 14, 11:42 AM    #

43. #38, your logic truly scares me. As academics, we are charged not with explaining the result (“truth”), but rather with the process. Relaying “truth” is not known as teaching. That is known by another name: preaching.

    — Eric    May 14, 11:50 AM    #

44. Ref. M, #37: “ And if the concept of affirmative action for conservatives, who froth at the mouth at other kinds of affirmative action, isn’t inherently funny, then what is?”

    That is absolutely brilliant! Every conservative should immediately repudiate this suggestion if their hearts are as pure as they claim to be.

    — Al    May 14, 11:55 AM    #

45. #43, Bravo!

    — Mark de Goz    May 14, 12:20 PM    #

46. I thought education was about creating a well-rounded individual and if it takes hiring a person to come in and advocate for conservative thought (which is not always a negative thing) to diversify the curriculum and administration of the UC-Boulder campus then I’m all for it.

    — Angelica    May 14, 12:23 PM    #

47. I know Deborah (Comment #40) already made this correction, but I feel it needs to be said again. The school is CU Boulder not UC Boulder.

    — Rebecca    May 14, 01:43 PM    #

48. I suggest you all wake up to the fact that major news outlets are historically right wing puppets. The facade of liberalism in the U.S. and European media is no more than the spoon feeding of the Intelligence service at hand. Hasn’t anyone wondered what happened to embedded reporter’s? jWhat happened to those stories about the Psych Ops guys on the news floor at CNN, or the 6 ARMY communications guys filtering out coverage at FOX, and the 3 majors inexchange for “access” to the war?Bush’s have a long history of manufacturing war for profit. See: Zapata Oil, Bay of Pigs,Trading with the enemy/ Nazi Spy importing and an unbeleivable host of anti-human activitities perpetrated on the U.S., and the world by their associated group of sinister elite warmongers and drug dealers . “Research” is what is needed, and social actioon on a huge scale. The only meaningful war that is really going on is that of the wealthiest individuals in the world lording over and manipulating the rest of the populations. They work together to insure all of the public property is is used and stolen, so they don’t have to drill for oil, and actually pay a fair price for it to land owners, and make fake money at the reserve banks and charge you interest for it while devaluing the dollar for there own benefit. Or how about sub-prime and all of the money that’s been stolen from the finance industry through false statements regarding future income on the ARM loans. Who’s paying it all back? YOU! And what about all of the EnRON style accounting fraud that has occurred in every major company in America, that is being swept under the rug, while the in-crowd “Conservative execs walked away with bucket loads of money. Who is paying for it? YOU!!! You don’t see any of it on TV or in the paper. Liberal media bias my foot. This country is manipulated through the voting power and gullabilityof Fetal Alcohol babies that believe anything they hear on T.V. and in Church. Let the poor fight our wars, while the kids at Yale party with Paris Hilton. It’s time to plant the seeds of REVOLT!!! Wake up America !!!!

    — Jeffrey Todd Brown    May 14, 01:50 PM    #

49. Regarding my previous blog. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the most elite liberals are just as power hungry and complicit in the process. Ultimately, the thoughts of Pharmakeus #26 constitute a faulty root political machine that exists in American Poltics. However, that is simply a means to an end. Our elections are pretty meaningless when one considers all of the factors laid out. Our media is owned and controlled by the very wealthiest who make a majority of their money from war, and natural resources derived from the public domain, which they control with their access to media, and puppet politicians. Welcome to the New World Order.

    — Jeffrey Todd Brown    May 14, 02:02 PM    #

50. Lately, I’m afraid the term “conservative thought” has become an oxymoron.

    — Donald Winters    May 14, 02:57 PM    #

51. This proves the purge of progressive scholars in Colorado is politically motivated.

    — Andrew Austin    May 14, 04:17 PM    #

52. An Intellectual Ayatollah!
    Perfect… Just what our university system needs right now.

    — Elan Durham    May 14, 04:34 PM    #

53. I read the article linked to, and I still don’t understand…what department would this position be in? I have no problem with the proposal as long as the position is in a relevant department. The idea of a free-floating, unaccountable “department of one” makes me nervous, though.

    (FWIW, I’m a flaming liberal and a librarian, not an academic).

    — Mark K.    May 14, 04:35 PM    #

54. How is this different from a chair in Womens’ Studies or Black Studies? Those aren’t inherently ideological positions?

    If we have departments of everything else, why not a Department of Conservative Studies — and a minor in it for interested folk?

    — ed    May 15, 08:36 AM    #

55. Hey dudes, your just smoked Ward Churchill for his leftist views. Now you want to replace him with a right wing hack. Now that is fair and balanced. Go Go!

    — dan brown    May 15, 09:19 AM    #

56. Sounds like a dream job for Ann Coulter. Maybe the Intro course could be “Hate Mongering 101.”

    — LeftieLucy    May 15, 09:58 AM    #

57. Actually # 32, it just proves the training’s point. If all of your top administrators are white males, perhaps they need to see why it’s like that at the top in order to deal with the people of color and women at the bottom. DUH————. for the record Thomas jefferson was a proponent of diversity; just ask his mistress Sally Hemmings.

    — Liz C    May 15, 11:33 AM    #

58. I think most of you missed the real point of the announcement. UCB is attempting to raise $9 million to endow this position. My guess: that’s what this is really about — a fundraising campaign.

    — Bill    May 16, 05:24 PM    #

59. Reading this blog convinces me more than ever that the Chancellor is doing the right thing – no pun intended.

    — Wayne    May 16, 11:21 PM    #

60. Could I be considered? I’m a medievalist; it doesn’t get more conservative than the Dark Ages.

    — Doug Jantzen    May 22, 03:48 PM    #

61. The idea of a professor of conservative thought is prima facie ridiculous. Since when does ideology determine the content of a chair holder? And the whole moniker of “fair and balanced” is just as ridiculous. Why is that necessarily a desirable quality? Making things “fair” often just means a kind of crude equation. Conservatism and liberalism are rather large labels. Most positions are far more nuanced than that. Furthermore, to demand ideological balance in any institution is courting disaster. Does this mean that liberals should demand more ideological balance in the military. A professor of peace at the War College? More liberal colonels and corporals? Though I suppose I would characterize myself as liberal, I would hardly think it prudent for me to argue that the military needs to redress its ideological imbalance, if that in fact is what it is.

    — Jeffrey Cass    May 27, 03:49 PM    #

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