By Sigrid Weidenweber
Since the late Seventies/Eighties, and perhaps even before, I noticed the trend of attacking free speech in universities and other places. If you disagreed with the theories of the left—you were silenced, shamed and labeled. In 1985 a sociology professor’s TA called me a Nazi, probably because I am of German heritage and he wanted to shut me up by hurling this ugly label at me. He did not like my disagreement with his take on Indian religion and that I had the temerity to challenge his thesis. Since then, I have been in many situations when people whose ideas and beliefs ran contra to left indoctrination were labeled, silenced, and their papers downgraded. A favorite trick is to leave the offending person standing, as if he/she does not exist, and go on with curriculum without addressing their thoughts or concerns. However, at that time, in 1985, there were still a few professors left who taught unadulterated research facts and allowed free discourse in their lecture halls. Not so today. This is a truth that most of us have learned, as if by osmosis. The facts are seeping out in drips, since most of the media will not report the shameful indoctrination of young Americans.
To my utter surprise I found in the Wall Street Journal January 3, 2020 a blog post from December 23, by UCLA law professor Steven Bainbridge. We should declare him a hero or leftist dragon-slayer, for he just took on the entire lop-sided, left-thinking establishment of universities. Bainbridge is risking is career with this blog, which is patently supported by facts. He begins his blog by stating that he is up for a merit raise at UCLA, and for that to occur, he has to submit a statement of how he contributes to the University’s goals of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Having emphasized this, he notes that, “I have long been particularly concerned with the lack of intellectual diversity at the law school. A survey of U.S. law professors in general found that white Democratic professors (both male and female), Jewish professors, and none-religious professors account for most, (or all) of the overrepresentation among racial, gender, religious and ideological groups in law teaching.” Then, he let it be known that the most underrepresented group in law teaching are Republicans, both male and female, Protestant or Catholic. He asserts, “At UCLA, we know that the campus as a whole, leans substantially to the left.” Then he cites facts: a study of various university faculties showed that at Cornell the ratio of liberal to conservative faculty members was 166 to 6. At Stanford it was 151 to 17, at UCLA 141 to 9, at the University of Colorado it was 116 to 5. Bainbridge then mentions with palpable emotion that conservative students at UCLA have been harassed, stalked and threatened, and he further states that he has made it his mission to reach out to such underrepresented, unincluded students and supports them, for they feel alienated and hated. The article went on for greater length with more facts, and ends with the slightly facetious sentence, “I’ll let you know if I get the raise.” With that blog, he has pointed out after all that he supports diversity.
I add my own dour prediction: sorry, there will be no raise for professor Bainbridge. By telling the truth with his blog he might find himself jobless.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal.
Sigrid Weidenweber grew up in communist East Berlin, escaping it using a French passport. Ms. Weidenweber holds a degree in medical technology as well as psychology and has course work in Anthropology. She is co-founder of Aid for Afghans. Weidenweber has traveled the world and lived with Pakistani Muslims, learning about the culture and religion. She is a published author and lecturer. You can find her books on Amazon.com
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