The government and academic freedom

Re “One side fits all,” Current, Aug. 28

Leila Beckwith argues that because one student in San Diego claims that a professor allegedly says the U.S. “has always been wrong,” the state should pass laws infringing upon freedom of expression. But who would protect us from abuses of these laws?

Should we establish legislative committees to police the thoughts of professors and ban certain books? Academic freedom, like any kind of freedom, can sometimes be abused. But revoking that freedom because a handful of students don’t like their professors is an invitation to censorship of the worst kind.

JOHN K. WILSON

Normal, Ill.

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It was interesting to note the observations of Beckwith concerning the indoctrination of our college and university students. Fortunately, the good professor is emeritus status. Otherwise, such cogent comments would earn her pariah status from her colleagues. She states that as a former faculty member, she does not want academic excellence diminished by political agitators. Never happen. As a taxpayer, she resents her dollars supporting the political indoctrination of our students. Dream on. In 1987, professor Allan Bloom published “The Closing of the American Mind: How higher education has failed democracy and improvised the souls of today’s students.” Nothing has changed, professor. Your side lost.

JOSEPH A. LEA

Assoc. Professor of Education

Cal State Long Beach

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I was the instructor for the sociology course on Sept. 11 and its aftermath taught at UC San Diego during the fall of 2003 and cited by Beckwith as a key example of political indoctrination in the classroom. Rather than attempt to refute the characterizations of my course, I would like to note they constitute a substantial portion of Beckwith’s evidence of the diminishment of higher education by “political agitators,” despite having been leveled by a single student.

Much of the rest of the evidence in the essay is equally flimsy. Given the readiness with which critics like Beckwith are willing to accept even the most dramatic allegations of educational misconduct, is it any wonder that many academics are concerned that inviting the government into the classroom is likely to further chill academic speech?

JONATHAN MARKOVITZ

Carlsbad