A panel of UCLA faculty members alleged by a conservative group to be politically radical spoke at a teach-in Tuesday night to combat what they perceive as attacks on academic freedom.
Sponsored by the University Council of the American Federation of Teachers, the event was a response to recent controversy sparked by the Bruin Alumni Association, an independent group dedicated to exposing political bias in the classroom.
Founded by 2003 UCLA alumnus Andrew Jones, the association recently garnered national media attention for its offer to pay students who submitted course materials and recorded proof of radical teachings in the classroom.
Though he retracted his pay offer last week, Jones still alleges a strong leftist bias exists at UCLA and seeks to uncover the prejudice by raising donations and profiling professors on his Web site, www.uclaprofs.com.
A panel of five faculty speakers, all of whom were named on the site’s list of the “Dirty Thirty” most radical faculty at UCLA, denounced what they termed a “witch hunt by the ultra-conservative right wing.”
The teach-in was meant to spark a discussion not only about this particular incident, but also about the larger “assault” on academic freedom, especially in legislation proposals, said Vinay Lal, a Southeast Asian studies professor accused on Jones’ site of holding “views similar or identical to those of Hitler.”
“This site isn’t that threatening, but the larger attack is,” Lal said. “The worst part is that this has ties to legislation that would erode the autonomy of the university. Academic freedom wasn’t always the case. It came only after a long struggle, so it’s important to keep this (freedom) alive.”
The panelists said they are concerned about legislation currently proposed in the state senate to guarantee a balanced academic environment. A similar Academic Bill of Rights Resolution passed in Georgia in March 2004.
Speakers dismissed accusations of a liberal bias in classroom teachings, drawing parallels to the era of McCarthyism in the 1950s.
Several professors said most of the profiles detailed private outside political activities, which have no bearing on classroom behavior.
Despite being profiled on the site as “irrepressible on current political matters,” history professor Ellen DuBois said she encourages dissenting opinion in the classroom.
Lal also said teaching students the critical thinking skills necessary to make connections between bodies of knowledge is an essential method in the classroom. He said those connections could be misinterpreted as bias.
“There’s a feeling that liberal professors are using the classroom inappropriately,” Lal said. “For example, I make a connection between colonial history in India in the past and the current situation with oil in the Middle East. It’s important for the professor to speak from where the students are by making connections to current events.”
Described as a “Palestinian radical” by the site, English professor Saree Makdisi said that in most cases curricula cannot be presented from a partisan viewpoint.
“It’s absurd to try to reduce complexities of academic studies to left-wing versus right-wing,” Makdisi said. “There’s no democratic perspective on (writer William) Wordsworth.”
The audience was overwhelmingly receptive to the panel’s message, and most students offered support for the professors.
Second-year international development studies student Chloe Constant, who attended the teach-in, said it is important to allow professors to give their opinions in class.
“I haven’t seen anything inappropriate in the classroom,” Constant said. “I came to UCLA to get a wide variety of perspectives, so I don’t want that to be restricted.”
The real importance of the teach-in was to educate students, so they can protect their own academic freedom, DuBois said.
“Students must speak for themselves and stand up for their right to learn,” DuBois said.