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 Bad
News from Slippery Rock
Institutions for the elite Left's true believers...
[by
Daniel Pipes] 4/14/06
When assessing
the state of higher education in America, such problems as
the Harvard faculty's ouster
of its president or the unhinged radicalism of Columbia's
Middle East studies get the most attention. Lesser institutions
tend to get ignored, leaving the possible impression that they
do not suffer so much from domination by the far left.
Such an impression
would be wrong indeed. For a report from the trenches, I suggest
the calm, factual testimony of Alan
Levy, author of eight well received books on American cultural
and social issues, who has taught history for 21 years at Slippery
Rock University in Pennsylvania, a state-funded institution
located north of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1889, with more than
7,500 students, it accepts four-fifths of its applicants and
represents the middle to lower ranks of American higher education.
Contributor
Daniel Pipes
Daniel
Pipes is director of the Middle
East Forum, a member of the presidentially-appointed
board of the U.S.
Institute of Peace, and a prize-winning columnist
for the New York Sun and The Jerusalem
Post. His most recent book, Miniatures: Views
of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics (Transaction
Publishers) appeared in late 2003. His website, DanielPipes.org,
the single most accessed source of information specifically
on the Middle East and Islam, offers an archive and
a chance to sign-up to receive his new materials as
they appear. [go to Pipes index]
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Mr. Levy,
who enjoys tenure, informed the Select
Committee on Academic Freedom of the Pennsylvania House
of Representatives about the muck of political correctness,
group-think, and dishonesty at Slippery Rock. His testimony
warrants reading in full (at http://hnn.us/articles/23231.html),
but here are some highlights:
- At least
one full professor falsified her credentials, claiming to
have published two books when she had none to her credit.
- Not classroom
or scholarly excellence, but being active in the faculty
union "can be a major factor in regard to tenure and
promotions."
- Instructors
are so politicized that "students gain the clear sense that
the way to good grades is simply to parrot back to the professors
what they want to hear in regard to political viewpoints."
- One feminist
professor "openly commences her classes with the unashamed
statement that she teaches from a feminist perspective and
that no other outlooks are welcome before her."
- The committee
that reviews curriculum changes has "a custom of looking
at the bibliography and asking only one major question: Is
there a 50% representation of women among the authors in
the bibliography?"
- The night
when The Vagina Monologues, a feminist play called "poisonously
anti-male" by Christina
Hoff Sommers, was staged on campus, a professor who had
critiqued the play found a load of trash dumped on his lawn
and a stone hurled through a window of his car.
Mr. Levy concludes that
at Slippery Rock "we do not have an environment that is conducive
to academic freedom." More generally, he said that the 14 campuses
making up the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education "have
seen the steady erosion of academic quality and academic freedom." To
me, he added "There is some excellent work done at Slippery
Rock. However, it takes place not because of but in spite of
an unhealthy corporate culture dominated by administrative
and faculty-union bureaucrats."
Legislators
responded to Mr. Levy's revelations with dismay. One Democrat expressed
his concern about "the slipping of academic quality." Another said
that if all Mr. Levy had documented is true "the place should
be shut down."
The university's official
Web site may proclaim that "Of all the accolades and
special recognitions that the institution has received, it
is most proud of its reputation as a caring and friendly
university," but Mr. Levy hardly met a "caring and friendly" reception
on his return from testifying. From the president down, he
encountered icy glares and social exclusion. The student
newspaper dismissed his statement as a "rant" and berated
him for airing "the dirty laundry" of his employer.
Campus administrators
then issued the predictable denials. Slippery Rock's president
Robert Smith, responded, "We have not found a body of evidence
to suggest any threat to academic freedom for students or faculty
on this campus." The director of women's studies, Jace Condravy,
dismissed Mr. Levy's evidence: "I like to see proof before
I believe anybody's accusations or claims."
Presumably,
nothing will change anytime soon at Slippery Rock for, as Stephen
Balch of the National Association of Scholars has explained, "Our
colleges have become less marketplaces of ideas than churches
in which you have to be a true believer to get a seat in the
pews." Woe to anyone who rejects the prevailing orthodoxy,
whether at Slippery Rock or Harvard. If not excommunicated,
dissidents get ostracized.
And despite
their near-takeover by the illiberal left, American universities
are more robust than those in other Western countries, further
diminishing the incentive to make changes. -one-
This
piece first appeared in The New York Sun
copyright
2006 Daniel Pipes
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