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In recent months we’ve seen a University of Oklahoma student prompt a psychology instructor’s firing after a grading dispute that many viewed as a premeditated set-up by the student. Meanwhile, at Texas A&M University, a philosophy professor was recently ordered to remove portions of a Plato text from his syllabus because the ancient Greek philosopher’s work ran afoul of a university policy on teaching race and gender. And with each new week, another prestigious university capitulates to the Trump Administration’s demands for millions in damages for an array of alleged infractions ranging from allowing antisemitism on campus to promoting programing around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Survey data are clear that an overwhelming majority of American college and university faculty and professional staff identify as politically liberal. Did this political orientation invite such extreme reactions? Are these reactions understandable, or even necessary, counterweights to rebalance higher education, or has the pendulum now swung too far in the other direction? And more to the point, how can colleges and universities regain the near universal respect they once enjoyed rather than their current status as the epicenter of our ongoing national culture wars?

This conversation will center around such questions as:

• How did higher education become so politicized? Has it always been, or has it become politicized beyond historical precedents in recent years?
• Who is responsible for today’s politicization, activist politically progressive faculty or conservative politicians and pundits?
• Are the conservative students, state legislatures, and federal decrees we’re now witnessing effectively rebalancing higher education by providing a check on institutions that had drifted too far to the left in recent decades?   
• Some organizations, such as the Heterodox Academy and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, have called for universities to promote greater ideological balance among faculty and staff. However, many conservatives are skeptical that universities will, or even can, reform themselves. Is government action necessary to promote more conservative perspectives on campus?
• How should we define “ideological balance” in higher ed? Is it okay for some colleges and universities, or some academic programs within them, to be identified with politically progressive values and others with conservative values?
• What should colleges and universities do to rise above the polarized politics of our era and reclaim the stature they enjoyed for generations as revered engines of opportunity, scientific advancement, and civic good?

Speakers

Andrew Rotondo, Ph.D., is an associate teaching professor of philosophy and assistant academic director in the 51Ʒ��School of Arts and Humanities.

John Waterman, Ph.D., is an associate teaching professor of philosophy in the 51Ʒ��School of Arts and Humanities.

Sarah Delage, 51Ʒ��associate vice president of Communications, will moderate the discussion, which will include ample opportunity for audience participation through comments and questions.