Students, profs question class climate

Michael Munger is hard to miss. With his wild curly hair, booming voice and wealth of political knowledge, Munger is one of Duke’s most recognized and respected professors.

But the chair of the political science department is also known by many as a conservative fixture in the classroom.

He said students have come to him complaining about political bias, telling him they think they received an A- on a paper in another class because they did not agree with the professor's views.

“That’s not blatant political discrimination,” Munger said. “You write a good paper and get a D, I may listen.”

At the root of the students’ concerns—warranted or not—is an ideal intertwined with the history of higher education: academic freedom.

In its purest form, academic freedom exists when an institution fosters a culture in which students and professors are not punished for their opinions. And although most people agree academic freedom should be a given on any campus, the questions of how much of it exists and how to protect it are grounds for debate.

Even in the shadow of bold historical moves in support of an open intellectual environment, Duke—like much of academia—has struggled to shake a reputation as a bastion of liberal bias.

At Duke, many believe the issue stems from a lack of candid dialogue.

“I believe Duke is pretty good in some respects to these issues,” Provost Peter Lange said.

But Lange and other top brass admit that even at Duke, there is always room—but no easy avenue—for improvement.

 

The debate

In February 2004 the Duke Conservative Union published an advertisement in The Chronicle listing the number of registered Democrats and Republicans in many social science departments. All of the eight departments listed had more Democrats than Republicans; some departments had no registered Republicans.

Madison Kitchens, Trinity ’04 and executive director of DCU at the time, said the trend in the departments is troubling. “Their viewpoints don’t represent a broad, diverse intellectual balance of opinions but rather a monochromatic look at certain subjects,” she said.

Though others said political affiliation has little bearing on a department or professor’s quality of instruction, the ad reignited the evolving discussion about students’ academic freedom.

Most participants in the debate agree that an affirmative action-like program for conservative professors would harm the University’s academic quality. Munger said the best way for professors to combat the perception of bias is to teach all sides of an issue, not reveal partisan preferences and allow students to figure out their own values.

But some students say there are professors who never give them that chance. Jessica Wilson, Trinity ’05, said violations of academic freedom are usually subtle. Often, she said, it comes down to what professors do—explicitly or implicitly—to make students feel comfortable expressing themselves in class.

“You will quickly learn to undertone it when you need to,” she explained. “There are a lot of ideas I would never bring up.”

Wilson said the issue is particularly problematic for conservative students like herself. From picking classes to deciding how to write a public policy memo, Wilson said she often made academic decisions based on her professors’ ideology.

“[Conservatives] take liberal professors’ classes who they have heard can withstand conservative views,” she said. “It usually is a grade issue in the end.”

 

Conflicting philosophers

Professor Gary Hull wants answers.

In the evaluations for his “Introduction to Philosophy” class, Hull, director of the Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace and senior lecturing fellow in the sociology department, received comments like, “Everything was amazing, could not find a flaw,” and, “Duke needs more teachers in the philosophy dept. like Dr. Hull.”

The students gave him scores generally above the philosophy department’s average. He was lower than the average ranking in the “effort required” category, but students still scored Hull’s class a 4.9 out of 5 in intellectual stimulation; the department average was 4.3.

Because Hull was paid through a separate program, the philosophy department did not have to fund his salary for the course. It seemed like the perfect arrangement for the department.

But students will not be able to take Hull’s class this year, as it was not renewed.

Hull is speaking out, saying the department treated him unfairly.

The philosophy department, he explained, generally teaches philosophy with a pro-socialist slant; his class covers both a pro-capitalism and pro-socialism view. Many of his colleagues, Hull noted, do not think some of his subject matter should be taught.

“This is more than liberal bias against conservatives,” he said. “This is antagonism towards the whole idea of individualism and capitalism—any type of ideology that contradicts the philosophical premises of the department.”

Hull said one reason the department excluded him was because, after taking his course, students questioned the new material in subsequent classes.

“The professor gets pissed off,” Hull said. “Rather than deal with the objection and deal with the student, he gets upset and dismissive and behaves in goon-like behaviors. I’ve seen them do this to students.”

The philosophy department denies these accusations.

Martin Golding, a philosophy professor who supported cancelling Hull’s class, said the decision to exclude Hull was not because of his views. “We didn’t think his course was appropriate,” Golding said. “We don’t think that people that are not in the philosophy department should come from outside the philosophy department, unless there is a special need.”

Owen Flanagan, James B. Duke professor of philosophy, questioned Hull’s credentials and speculated that he was hired because nobody else was available to teach the course.

“We would not allow a person to teach in our department on a regular basis who we would not consider a credible hire by our department,” he added. “[Hull] would not be a credible candidate in our department.”

Golding and Flanagan said neither political affiliation nor ideological discussions arise when deciding whether to keep or hire a professor in the department. But Hull alleged that professors who have different views are unwelcome in the department, leaving certain areas of the field potentially unexplored and untaught.

The provost said standards of achievement for hiring committees are not universally specific but depend on an institution or department’s particular disciplines and subdisciplines. Many departments, particularly smaller ones, include a collection of professors with similar research specializations.

But Lange said this situation can be detrimental to the academy if not monitored. “I do believe that faculty do have to be vigilant in just reproducing themselves,” he said.

 

The new professor

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva is still unpacking his office.

The associate professor of sociology was recently hired to come to Duke from Texas A&M University. Lynn Smith-Lovin, professor of sociology and chair of the department’s hiring committee, wrote in an e-mail that Bonilla-Silva’s research focus on racial oppression makes him a perfect match for a department particularly strong in the study of economic sociology.

But the professor’s past may be catching up to him.

In an e-mail to The Chronicle, former president of the Young Conservatives of Texas A&M Matt Maddox, who graduated in 2004, called Bonilla-Silva a “race-baiter” and an “intellectual burden.”

“He doesn’t let other people voice their views in the classroom,” Maddox said in a later conversation. “I don’t think he contributed anything but stirred racial hatred on the campus.”

The Young Conservatives ranked Bonilla-Silva as the top perpetrator of academic abuse in the classroom in their Professor Watch List Hall of Dishonor.

Maddox said the ranking was partially based on written comments. In Bonilla-Silva’s syllabus for his “Sociology of Minorities” class, he called the U.S. “The United States of Amerikkka” and said he would “remove the three K’s from this word when the USA removes racial oppression from this country!”

The Young Conservatives’ list claimed “Bonilla-Silva also routinely refers to conservative students as ‘Nazis’ or ‘klan-like’” and does not allow them to dissent in class.

Though not completely surprised by the attacks, Bonilla-Silva—who is not a registered Democrat or Republican—said students gave him positive teacher evaluations, a fact he considered impressive for a professor with liberal views on a generally conservative campus.

Bonilla-Silva said the statements the group criticized were “tongue-in-cheek.” His syllabus was tailored to ultra-conservative students at Texas A&M, some of whom use The Bible as the main source in an essay, he explained. Bonilla-Silva said students should use scientific data if they want to oppose arguments in his class.

He added that his job is to give his students the tools to challenge him with data after they have become well-versed in the subject matter he has studied for more than 20 years.

Lange said he was sure nobody at Duke knew of the ranking on the watch list when Bonilla-Silva was hired but added that it would not have affected hiring. “The worst thing we could possibly do is begin to allow off-handed rankings to influence intellectual decisions,” Lange said.

Philip Morgan, chair of the sociology department, challenged students to judge Bonilla-Silva for themselves.

“Rather than look at some list on the Internet, you might want to drop in and listen to what he has to say,” he said. “More importantly, why don’t you pick up a book and read it. It’s not like he is hiding his views.”

 

Future of freedom

Junior Stephen Miller is fighting for change.

As the head of Duke’s chapter of Students for Academic Freedom, Miller hopes to change the University’s academic climate by disseminating information, pressuring professors who violate students’ liberties and working to pass an academic bill of rights.

“If you have cancer, the cure will be ugly and gruesome. Leftist bias is a cancer in academia,” he said.

The group is an offshoot of the national Students for Academic Freedom organization, a conservative group trying to pass federal legislation of an academic bill of rights.

Lange said a federal mandate are not the best method of enacting effective academic change. Instead, he supports an amendment to the Duke Student Government constitution passed last spring titled “Academic Expectations and Responsibilities.” Proposed by junior Joe Fore, vice president of academic affairs, the bill states that Duke students should expect “freedom from religious, political, and other biases” in their academics.

The bill does not propose a specific mechanism for change, but Fore says he will be working this year to instill a more free academic atmosphere on campus.

Fore and Miller admit students cannot do the job alone. It will require efforts from administrators, whole departments and faculty as well.

With no quick fix in sight, Lange says the first step to making progress is sparking discussion.

“The whole idea of a university is to challenge people to think—to challenge their own way of thinking, to learn about their own way of thinking by bringing them into contact with different ways of thinking and giving them tools to do that in public and intellectually reasonable ways,” he said. “Debate is a good thing.”