Benson Center is a last stand for conservative thought
Two students asked me on the last day of class, “So what is your political ideology?” I teach at several area universities as an adjunct instructor of communication, media, and political science. “What do you think it is?” I asked. “Center-left?” said one student. Said another, “I honestly don’t know; you’re so fair about what you say about each side.” College students don’t read the newspaper or Google their professors, apparently. Otherwise, they would have known.
As a commentator, it’s my job to present my opinion, but when I’m in front of the classroom my job is to provide a full range of opinions. I try to present multiple sides of issues using the best arguments for those positions. That way, students can consider issues critically and voice their own opinions with respect and authenticity.
A couple of students confided to me that some professors regularly opine in class. Such a classroom environment makes them feel they cannot be open about their own views. The experience of these conservative young people mirrors my own when I was a student at the University of Colorado Denver and Boulder campuses where I earned my degrees. Fortunately, as a student I was never afraid to push back. To my professors’ credit, our spirited debates were friendly and did not negatively affect my grades. Other fellow conservative students, however, were reluctant to speak up. That’s a shame.
In the quarter-century since I got my undergraduate degree, the college professoriate has actually grown more liberal. According to surveys by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, the percentage of professors who identify as “liberal” or “farleft” grew from 42% in 1990 to 60% in 2014. Meanwhile, the percentage of conservative professors dropped from 14% to 12% over those years.
Conservative professors aren’t just rare; in some places they are nonexistent. When Mitchell Langbert at Brooklyn College examined the political affiliation of 8,688 tenure track professors with PhDs from 51 of the 66 top-ranked liberal arts colleges in the U.S. News 2017 report, he discovered that 39% of these campuses had no republican professors. How many of these institutions boast a commitment to diversity? Likely all of them pay lip service. Maybe it’s time to take down the “I heart diversity” posters.
The University of Colorado at Boulder deserves credit for actively encouraging ideological diversity on campus through its Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization which aims “to promote a lively and balanced conversation that respects both conservative and liberal ideals, thus fostering the full diversity of political, economic and philosophical perspectives on the CU Boulder campus and broader community, and serving as a model for other institutions.” The Center supports campus seminars, lectures and programs, faculty and student grants, undergraduate classes, a summer institute, community outreach, and visiting scholars and fellows. The online guest speaker webinars have provided much needed intellectual stimulation during the pandemic.
Recently the Benson Center garnered attention when its visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy, Professor John Eastman, spoke at the January 6 rally in Washington D.C. claiming the presidential election was comprised by fraud. He also represented the former president in the election lawsuit dismissed by the Supreme Court and encouraged former Vice President Mike Pence to delay the acceptance of the Electoral College vote tally to allow state legislators to further investigate vote fraud allegations.
Eastman has subsequently been relieved of public outreach duties at the Center. His courses were canceled due to low enrollment. It is prudent for the Center to distance itself from January 6 and claims about the election. Eastman is entitled to his opinion but the controversy is a distraction from the meaningful work of the Center. Opponents will use the controversy to undermine support for the Center, marginalize conservative thought, and quash ideological diversity on the college campus. Students will be poorer for it. It’s not like there are many other places they can go.