Re: The Right Angle

I remember back in the early Nineties when an AAUW report entitled “How Schools Shortchange Girls” received a lot of publicity. Among other findings, the article discussed how girls in a classroom setting receive less attention than boys. The report claimed girls were largely not encouraged to raise their hands to participate, or that teachers oftentimes rewarded the assertiveness of boys. The article's research addressed the perceived bias of school teachers against young girls and while later studies in later years debated the findings of this article, some added to the discourse on the equity of education with factors other than sex. Factors like race, socio-economic backgrounds, etc. Today, having just finished the Carolinian’s column The Right Angle, it would appear that a new factor should probably be added: political affiliation. Or at least that could be the unstated agenda of The Right Angle’s author.

Melissa Westmoreland opens the article with a colorfully detailed dystopian fantasy. It reminded me of Orwell’s 1984 or footage from this year’s RNC convention. Either way, it was a fantastical way to get the ball rolling on an equally fantastical topic, the so-called “liberal bias” in higher education. Whether or not you were a part of Melissa’s uncontrolled random survey, whether or not you had a chance to “weigh in” on the issue, one thing is for sure: Republicans love their unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. In true punditocracy form, Melissa deliberately paints the UNCG faculty in broad, insinuating strokes to cast unwarranted suspicions on the hard-working men and women who teach at this fine institution. One cursory glance at UNCG’s Discriminatory Conduct Policy (special attention to “political affiliation” as a “protected class”) will show you that UNCG professors risk a lot if they actually put Melissa’s paranoid delusions into practice. Hey, but who are we to muck up the works of this smeer campaign with little things like "facts" and "details"? They never seem to stop Anne Coulter either.

A few years ago, I dressed in all black in memory of the year anniversary of September 11. The moment my professor saw my outfit, she accused me of using the
anniversary as a way to get attention, and proceeded to preach to the class that September 11 should be a "happy" day, because we're all still alive.

Alas, we are lacking all sorts of details in this anecdote that could better inform us readers as to why a professor acted in that manner so that we can think for ourselves and reach our own conclusions. Or perhaps they are missing because that was the intent of the author? Because this is the sort of behavior I see when I look up the term “liberal”--if I'm looking at a dictionary that's biased against liberals. Maybe the professor was coming from a “counselor mindset”, where the professor is encouraging healing by reframing perspective. Or perhaps this story is unreliable on its surface because it is filtered to us through an “overly-sensitive mindset”. No, here at a school that The Right Angle’s author values for its “open-mindedness” and “where all viewpoints are welcome” there can be only one possible conclusion: The professor is liberally biased, galdarnit!

Most of the conservative students that I asked say that in class discussions, it is usually apparent what side the teacher agrees with, and this discourages students with different viewpoints from saying what they believe.

And, of course, that is the fault of the teacher and not the students’. You just let me know when I’m suppose to feel sorry for anyone who isn’t making the most of their UNCG education. If you are one of conservative students Melissa is talking about, this point needs to be made abundantly clear: Fear of reprisals is not an excuse for your laziness. It’s your fault you’re not getting the most from your classes by challenging professors. Don’t blame the faculty. I know that Melissa never gets around to saying something like that; that’s because it’s easier make baseless accusations than it is to take responsibility. Isn’t it interesting how she decides to just attack UNCG faculty in her article instead of encouraging all of you to not be gutless, to stand up for and represent yourselves by participating in the classroom?

In a school where open-mindedness and diversity are welcome, is it really right to silence an entire group?

I hope everyone finds the irony that this article, printed in the school’s well-distributed newspaper, ends with a question like this as amusing as I do. Last week it was a report on the happenings at the UNCG College Republicans; however, this week we are to believe UNCG conservatives are voiceless and censored. Which is it?