This is what itโs come to.
I have so, so many thoughts on this. But I also have deadlines out the ying-yang.
BOULDER, Colo. โ How liberal is the University of Colorado at Boulder?
The campus hot-dog stand sells tofu wieners. A recent pro-marijuana rally drew a crowd of 10,000, roughly a third the size of the student body. And according to one professorโs analysis of voter registration, the 800-strong faculty includes just 32 Republicans.
Chancellor G.P. โBudโ Peterson surveys this landscape with unease. A college that champions diversity, he believes, must think beyond courses in gay literature, Chicano studies and feminist theory. โWe should also talk about intellectual diversity,โ he says. So over the next year, Mr. Peterson plans to raise $9 million to create an endowed chair for what is thought to be the nationโs first Professor of Conservative Thought and Policy.
Mr. Petersonโs quest has been greeted with protests from some faculty and students, who say the move is too โ well, radical. โWhy set aside money specifically for a conservative?โ asks Curtis Bell, a teaching assistant in political science. โIโd rather see a quality academic than someone paid to have a particular perspective.โ
Me: I agree they shouldnโt set aside money for a conservative (more on that later), but can anyone really argue that โquality academicsโ arenโt brought on to faculties to represent particular perspectives? Really?






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