Readers React: A sociology professor says liberals in academia aren’t a problem. Big surprise

To the editor: It is not a coincidence that this piece comes from a faculty member of a sociology department, the epicenter of left-wing politics in our colleges and universities. (“Professors are overwhelmingly liberal. Do universities need to change hiring practices?” Opinion, May 20)

Neil Gross interviewed professors who said they did not project left-wing bias into their teaching. This is less than convincing scholarship. His explanation that left-wing professors only mirror the progressive philosophies of graduate students also serves the thesis that lower division students have already been “brainwashed” before beginning graduate studies.

As a sociology professor, Gross surely knows that institutions tend to perpetuate themselves, in this case by progressives hiring progressives. The gap between the number of liberals and conservatives in academia is now so staggering that it would take a very long time to balance the situation.

Some form of affirmative action would be the ultimate irony.

Jack Kaczorowski, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Those concerned about professors’ personal political opinions affecting what they teach are making a mountain out of a molehill.

I have been a biology professor for 45 years. Never once have I heard that any professor has told their students about their political views.

We are too busy training students in math, science and technology to waste the students’ time with nonsense.

Steven B. Oppenheimer, Northridge

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