2008 Woodie Awards
You can't put limits on classroom discussions
Jim Elliott
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: Opinion
Originally published: 2/21/08 at 8:06 PM EST
Last update: 2/21/08 at 8:05 PM EST
At the weekly editorial board meeting for Cardinal Points this week, I had the opportunity, being the new guy here on staff, to sit back and quietly listen to the debate surrounding this week's editorial topic. That topic addresses the question of whether or not it's kosher for professors to talk about politics in the classroom.
As this topic was being discussed I couldn't help but wonder why the question was even being posed in the first place. Who would complain about politics being a regular topic in any classroom? Even if you had a professor with political beliefs that were entirely in opposition to your own, how can that be anything but thought provoking and therefore productive? I mean, aren't colleges supposed to be the environment where your knowledge and beliefs are challenged on the regular basis? I say if you don't want your knowledge and beliefs challenged stop complaining, get the hell out of this place of learning, hurry back to your bubble and hope it never get's popped.
At the previous schools I've attended - and I have to admit that there've been too many for me to seem very credible - there have always been backdrops of political interest. And even though that political interest may not have always been very intense, at least it has always been there.
Here at Plattsburgh State though, it seems that there is not just a lack of interest in politics, but an active disinterest. Last semester I wrote a commentary piece for Cardinal Points that discussed the nomination of the new Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who was condoning torture by not speaking out against it. I thought this was a big deal, but the following week I was politely asked to "write about something else" by my editor. When I asked why, I was told that students here weren't very interested in politics and probably wouldn't understand what I was talking about.
That made me angry, sad and scared all at the same time. Historically, colleges have been hotbeds of political upheaval in this country, and have offered the very valuable service of actively speaking out for people who may not be able to, like people with families to support who can't put themselves in danger without putting their entire family in danger.
As this topic was being discussed I couldn't help but wonder why the question was even being posed in the first place. Who would complain about politics being a regular topic in any classroom? Even if you had a professor with political beliefs that were entirely in opposition to your own, how can that be anything but thought provoking and therefore productive? I mean, aren't colleges supposed to be the environment where your knowledge and beliefs are challenged on the regular basis? I say if you don't want your knowledge and beliefs challenged stop complaining, get the hell out of this place of learning, hurry back to your bubble and hope it never get's popped.
At the previous schools I've attended - and I have to admit that there've been too many for me to seem very credible - there have always been backdrops of political interest. And even though that political interest may not have always been very intense, at least it has always been there.
Here at Plattsburgh State though, it seems that there is not just a lack of interest in politics, but an active disinterest. Last semester I wrote a commentary piece for Cardinal Points that discussed the nomination of the new Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who was condoning torture by not speaking out against it. I thought this was a big deal, but the following week I was politely asked to "write about something else" by my editor. When I asked why, I was told that students here weren't very interested in politics and probably wouldn't understand what I was talking about.
That made me angry, sad and scared all at the same time. Historically, colleges have been hotbeds of political upheaval in this country, and have offered the very valuable service of actively speaking out for people who may not be able to, like people with families to support who can't put themselves in danger without putting their entire family in danger.
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