The lack of intellectual diversity on college campuses today is not just an issue for conservatives. On Wednesday, four witnesses, three of them self-proclaimed liberals, talked with the Senate HELP Committee about the dangers of the one-sided education being provided at America's colleges and universities. (This was the second such hearing organized by Chairman Judd Gregg.) Students are being taught by homogeneous professors who are busy propagating their political ideas, or else teaching monotonous courses that seek to avoid all words and actions deemed politically incorrect. Either way, at a time when young adults should be encouraged to debate contentious issues freely, they are being driven to silence by an academic culture that gets vaporous at the prospect of being thought "offensive." Regardless of the ideology of individual professors, students deserve an education that exposes them to multiple views and perspectives. As Anne Neal of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni stated, "Even this ideological imbalance would not be fatal if students were given the knowledge and background that empowers them to think for themselves."
"Is intellectual diversity an endangered species on America's college campuses?," Senate HELP Committee Hearing, October 29, 2003