New website reports classroom bias

A new website has been launched that allows students to criticize professors they believe to be biased teachers.

Since its creation two months ago, NoIndoctrination.org has gained notoriety as a place for college students to anonymously post reports of classroom bias, which include professors' names. The website is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of "open inquiry in academia."

The organization was created by concerned parents who feel that discourse in the classroom is too driven by "sociopolitical agendas," which are not inclusive of alternative views. The website denies any religious, political, or institutional affiliations or bias.

"Faculty rights are upheld; student rights are not", said president and founder, Luann Wright on the website. She and other upset parents and students are adamant that academic freedom needs to apply equally students and professors. The website is intended as a vehicle for students to express themselves and their thoughts without fear of hostility.

Professors criticized on the website told The Chronicle of Higher Education that the site was "silly" and "cowardly."

Wright was inspired to create this website after her son took an "objectionable" writing course at the University of California San Diego that focused "too much" on the aspect and importance of one's race. Wright used to be a high school science teacher and calls herself "as middle of the road as you can get, politically."

One Tufts student submitted a posting in November about English 59, "The Continuity of American Literature," a course taught last fall by lecturer Ronna Johnson.

The student complained that the course, which examines the main themes in literature from the colonial era to the end of the nineteenth century in America, featured an "excessive" level of bias. The student explained that there was a constant theme of "light versus dark" and frequent discussion of "how light is often the evil and dark the oppressed and victimized."

According to the posting, students in the class read a book entitled Our Nig, in which there was suggestion of a black girl's rape by a white male. While the anonymous student said that he or she had trouble believing that the white male was the perpetrator, Professor Johnson was adamant that it was indeed the white male who raped the girl. When the student brought this to the attention of the professor, "the professor said she 'felt my pain'... the agenda was obviously just to give examples of white men behaving badly."

Neither Professor Johnson nor a representative from the website could be reached for comment.

Some of the other schools mentioned on the site include Brown, Cornell, New York University, Penn State, three schools within the University of California system, the University of Maryland, and the University of Michigan.

Student postings are kept anonymous for their protection, but the targeted professors are named. The website has rejected some postings that have failed to meet their standards, although according to the Chronicle, one posting criticized a course and a professor at Barnard College that do not exist. The posting is still on the website, almost two months after the article in the Chronicle was published.

Prior to posting a complaint, students are encouraged to carefully consider various aspects of the class. For example, in discussions were they encouraged to offer opinions that differed from those of the instructor? If so, were they treated respectfully, and did they feel intimidated in any way

Students may rate the bias in their courses as "noticeable", "objectionable", or "excessive". Nearly all of the postings complain about a pro-liberal bias among professors.

The targeted professors can submit rebuttals, but so far only economics professor Geoffrey Schneider from Bucknell University has responded to accusations made against him. He characterized the student posting about his course as "atypical comments by a hypersensitive conservative without a fundamental grasp on the material."

When it comes to issues of bias in the classroom, several colleges and universities adhere to the academic principles administered by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The AAUP's Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure carefully sets forth the duty of the professor in the classroom. It states that "teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has relation to their subject."

Examples from other schools include one post from Penn State about a class entitled "Women in Criminal Justice Systems." The angered student described the class as a "45-minute tirade against males with a particular disregard for white males... If a student raised a viewpoint counter to that of the prof's, she would dismiss the student as if that viewpoint was invalid and did not deserve to be discussed."