After transferring to Sacramento State from a community college,I thought a four-year university might be different. I was hopingto get one instructor with a conservative view of the world. Itseems I am going to have to wait until next semester. All of myteachers this year seem to be liberal. I am not talking about theImmanuel Kant or John Stuart Mill definition of liberal, but theAmerican political definition. The more politically correct termmight be, progressive. I am not saying a liberal viewpoint issomething bad. No one is capable of being completely objective, andI am not expecting Sac State professors to be any different.However, I can tell conservative students have an entire semesterto go with comments like Fox News is bad or AM talk radio is hateradio, which I have already heard in the first week.

I have no problems with those instructors who have a liberalviewpoint. On the contrary, 95 percent of my instructors in thelast few years have been liberal and I learned and benefited somuch more because of that. As a government major, I expect and wantliberal ideology to be discussed in my government classes. One ofthe things modern liberalism promotes is tolerance andinclusiveness of minority subcultures, which it appears on campuswould include being conservative. I do not think it is beingtolerant or inclusive when someone says it is okay to disagree withhim or her and in the same breath ridicule the opposite point ofview.

The CSUS Policy Manual says, “As teachers, professorsencourage the free pursuit of learning in their students.” Ihave confidence that every instructor believes in this, so mymessage is for conservative students.

In my community college classes I raised my hand and challengedmy liberal instructors. One community college teacher liked topraise Michael Moore. She was a great instructor, and I learned alot from her. I still remember her giddiness one day before classstarted. Her first words were, “Did you see Michael get anOscar and a standing ovation last night?” I guess she was ona first name basis with the producer of “Fahrenheit9/11.” She went on about Moore’s famous “Shame onyou Mr. Bush” speech. I had to quip back, “Well, theygave Roman Polanski a standing ovation too, but he is a childmolester.” I was referring to the mostly Hollywood audience,known for being on the liberal side, and commenting on what theythink warrants an ovation. (Polanski was convicted of raping a13-year-old girl in the 1970s and moved out of the country. He wasnot present to accept an award from the Academy.) She claimed myargument “sucked” and failed to make any point, whichwas probably true, but I expressed my feelings and the lecture wenton without any animosity between us.

One student in a class here at Sac State felt the bias was sobad last semester they sent a letter to www.Noindoctrination.org.This non-profit organization collects complaints from studentsaround the nation who feel their academic freedom is beingrestricted. It was a political science course, and the student felthe was picked on for being conservative.

The Web site keeps the students identity anonymous, so there isno way to confirm the complaint posted there. The story iscompelling because the student explains he spoke his mind eventhough he felt ridiculed. Everyone needs to participate in classand challenge your instructors when you do not agree with what theysay. Some teachers and students may think your conservative viewsare ignorant or misguided, and even roll their eyes, but it doesnot make them right.

I appreciate teachers tremendously who take care to present bothsides of an issue. These are the teachers that I have come torespect the most and will remember for the rest of my life. Do notadopt a teacher’s view of the world because they say so ormay have read more books than you. It does not necessarily makethem right, or more objective. You do not need to”blacklist” them either; you only need to pass theirtests. I may disagree with liberal ideology, but you are going tohear me challenge it in the classroom. I hope to see more than onehand go up.