The Patriot-News: Political bias rare in college classes
Lawmakers who went on a hunt for political intimidation and discrimination in public college classrooms say they returned almost empty-handed.
“We have some pretty good institutions that are following standard procedures,” Rep. Tom Stevenson, R-Allegheny, said yesterday.
Stevenson summarized the conclusion of the four two-day hearings held around the state by the House Select Committee on Student Academic Freedom. The panel discussed a plan for developing a report on their findings. The report is due by Nov. 30.
Representatives of Penn State and the 14 State System of Higher Education universities said Stevenson’s summation affirmed what they had believed.
At the hearings, committee members heard from dozens of professors, students, administrators and other groups.
While some university officials testified to having received student complaints about a case of a professor’s political bias affecting their grade or the classroom discussion, they insisted it was not a widespread problem. They also testified their institutions had a procedure for students to follow to resolve these concerns.
Others argued those procedures were lacking.
Rep. Gib Armstrong, R-Lancaster, called for the panel’s formation last year. He said he heard complaints about professors’ attempts to indoctrinate students in liberal philosophies and discourage debate of conservative views.
Armstrong said the hearings pointed out to him that public universities “are not as encouraging about diversity of thought as they should be.”
“To say we have no problem [with academic freedom concerns on public college campuses] is wishful thinking,” Armstrong said.
The panel spent about six months and $20,000 exploring the issue.
Rep. Dan Surra, D-Elk, who has been critical of the panel’s formation from the outset, said yesterday, “Personally, I think the recommendation section [of the report] should be pretty thin.”
Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, said perhaps colleges need to do a better job of publicizing their policies students should follow if they encounter a problem with a professor.
Another recommendation might be to require colleges to provide students with a person — other than the professor with whom a student has a beef — to help resolve the problem, Stevenson said.
Shippensburg University senior Meredith Brandt of Myerstown said neither of those steps is necessary.
“Saying students don’t know how to resolve these problems … is saying students aren’t competent and they are,” Brandt said. “If there’s a real problem, they’ll take care of it.”
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