GOP Influence at Pepperdine

I had the startling experience of reading Judy Pasternak’s story on the Republican influence at Pepperdine. Normally I am a mild-mannered soul who tends to see some merit in most views no matter how divergent from my own. But this story raised me right up out of my chair.

The gist of the story is that Pepperdine has a strong Republican philosophy and attracts more Republican speakers and faculty than Democrats. One might wonder why that is worth a story. Well, I guess it warrants notice because the Democratic point of view has carte blanche at every other institution in the state. It must be a real blow to find a place where the liberal view is not “fairly” represented. As Assemblyman Tom Hayden is quoted, “Pepperdine is a different kind of university. They’re not an open university in the full sense.”

Well, welcome to the real world! Now you know what it’s like to be a Republican in the rest of the academic community.

I think this deserves a follow-up report on the ratio of Republican to Democratic faculty, speakers and influence at other universities in California.

SUSAN B. CLAYTON

Goleta