Republican Jack Kingston, a conservative Georgia congressman,
recently introduced a non-binding resolution in the House of
Representatives asking every public and private university to
create an “Academic Bill of Rights.” Aimed not at
protecting academic freedom or ensuring that all students have
access to a good education, Kingston’s “Academic Bill
of Rights” hopes to “ensure fairness in higher
education and protection of college students from one-sided liberal
propaganda.”

Kingston acted on this because right-wing columnist David
Horowitz convinced him that America’s colleges and
universities are overrun by left-wing professors and student bodies
(although surveys show that students are becoming more
conservative) and that student programming councils are giving
preference to leftist student organizations instead of showering
money on conservative student groups and speakers.

The “Academic Bill of Rights” calls on all
universities to base faculty decisions on academic merit rather
than political or ideological affiliation, to grade students based
on reasoned answers and not on their belief systems and to
encourage student programming councils to be more open and fair
with their funding of student organizations.

Unfortunately, Kingston’s non-binding resolution is
problematic.

This resolution seemingly contradicts Kingston’s love of
personal autonomy. He prominently displays his desire to
“reduce government intrusion in our lives” on his
Congressional Web site. What could be more intrusive than the
government recommending how private institutions like Emory hire
and fire their faculty and how democratically elected student
programming councils allocate funds? His suggestion starts
government down a dangerous pathway of micromanagement of
institutions that Congress disfavors.

Also, conservative groups often lambaste the student fee
allocation system as stacked against them. They often claim that
“left-wing” groups and speakers get more funds than
conservative groups. However, this is blatantly false. Oftentimes,
multicultural groups, public health organizations and other
non-partisan groups are lumped into the label
“left-wing,” all helping to pad the numbers. In
reality, legitimate college left-wing groups get as much money as
college right-wing groups do.

I agree, though, that there is often more vociferous opposition
to the speakers that conservative student groups desire. However,
there is a simple solution for changing this inequity: democracy.
Most student programming councils are elected by the student body
or are appointed by students. If conservatives are upset about a
lack of equity in funding, they should run for positions on the
Student Government Association, College Council, Student
Programming Council or other fee-allocation bodies and make funding
decisions themselves.

Additionally, it is intellectually dishonest for Kingston to
imply that faculty are hired or promoted to tenure based on their
affiliation with non-conservative political parties. The claim that
there are more liberal professors than conservatives ones is
meaningless — as tenure is based on scholarship and the
ability to teach, there is little room for political ideology.

Finally, Kingston should at least acknowledge that the problem
of students being chastised for holding opposite beliefs than their
professors runs in both directions. There are few conservative
economics, political science or history professors who would allow
debates or exam answers singing the praises of sustainable
development in developing nations or the benefits of solar or wind
energy in the United States. If we’re going to highlight
problems, we should at least be honest enough to show all sides of
an issue.

Kingston’s only valid point with introducing this is to
draw attention to the need for academic freedom within institutions
of higher education. All viewpoints should be debated openly. These
discussions should be organic (and be free from partisan politics),
not induced by government oversight.

—Second-year Law student Bharath Parthasarathy can be
reached at bpartha@law.emory.edu. His column runs Fridays.