While I am conservative in my political leanings, I consider myself very open in my views and tolerant of others. The
atmosphere at my school, however, is one of extreme intolerance. As you may know, as a whole, the universities of the
Ivy League are as a whole posessing of both liberal student bodies and liberal faculty bodies. At my particular
institution, diversity is the watchword, but the view of diversity that has been
espoused is a peculiarly selective view that purposely turns a blind eye towards diversity of opinion and
ideology.
Allow me to explain. The university administration considers maintainance of diversity of ethnicity to be of particular
importance. Apparently, having students of diverse backgrounds is important for creating an atmosphere conducive
towards learning, and that diversity allows a wider spectrum of opinions to be expressed, thus enriching the education
process. That sounds nice in words, but in practice none of that takes place simply because most of the minority
students refuse to associate with people outside of their own ethnic groups, and therefore in large lecture halls, you
can see pockets grouped by clique and ethnicity with little or no exchange amongst them. Furthermore, ethnic groups are
granted their own lavish program houses. There is a dorm for black students, a dorm for hispanic students, a dorm for
native american students, all of which have comforts not available to students living in standard dorms (such as free
wireless internet). Its interesting that by creating such program houses for minorities that they have in effect helped
to segregate the population rather than integrate it into a single homogeneous diverse body.
On the other hand, diversity of opinion is not acceptable to the university administration. All freshmen are required
to attend classes and programs on diversity during their first few weeks of school, and can be subject to official
sanction if they do not attend or if they publically express divergent views. The administration has also allowed
liberal and minority groups on campus to burn copies of the Review, the predominant conservative publication on campus
(and the second-most widely-read student publication).
Many professors lack the responsibility to keep their political views out of the classroom. Rather than teach the
subjects that they are charged with instructing, they often launch into tangential diatribes regarding their political
views, even in subjects that have nothing to do with politics. Take for example a professor of engineering who, when
graphing in space with at least one imaginary axis, labels all imaginary points as WMD. While I admit such is clever
and humorous, it gets tiring on the hundredth repetition.
Thus what I dislike most about my school is the hypocrisy of the policies issued by the administration and the
intolerance for diversity of opinion by both faculty and students. Open discourse and the presentation of multiple
perspectives on issues can only enhance understanding of various subjects, and therefore this deliberate stifling of
ideology is in my opinion counterproductive towards the goal of any university.
s h i n s e n g u m i
Minitokyo Policy, Forum, Review, and Category Maintenance Moderator Emeritus
Do not expect to be applauded when you do the right thing, and do not expect to be
forgiven when you err, but even your enemies will respect commitment, and a conscience at peace is worth a thousand
tainted victories.
