Politicians say left-wing professors push their views. New poll shows students don鈥檛 see it that way
Politicians say left-wing professors push their views. New poll shows students don鈥檛 see it that way
Conservative politicians warn of 鈥渨oke鈥 college campuses, where liberal professors teach their opinions and stifle any dissent. Their concerns have led them to get in the of as never before, including through the creation of taxpayer-funded, right-leaning civic centers.
But most college students don鈥檛 share those concerns, recent reporting from the has found. And a by Gallup echoes what students said.
The poll, which included responses from nearly 4,000 college students, found that about two-thirds of all students 鈥 including two-thirds of Republican students 鈥 said that their professors encouraged students to share their views 鈥渆ven if it makes others uncomfortable.鈥 Just 3% of Republican students said they felt they didn鈥檛 belong at their college because of their political leanings. (The survey was conducted in partnership with the Lumina Foundation, one of The Hechinger Report鈥檚 many funders.)
That鈥檚 in line with Ohio State University students interviewed at the university鈥檚 Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society. Ohio is at the center of the civic center movement, with five now up and running.
Eight other states have similar centers or schools at public universities that are generally able to circumvent typical university hiring processes. They are designed to teach about civics and American history by emphasizing what makes the nation great.
As in the Gallup poll, OSU students agree that professors welcome different opinions
Several students taking Chase Center classes agreed to speak about this topic. They said they didn鈥檛 feel that any of their professors, in any classes, tried to push their personal beliefs.
鈥淚 would challenge anyone to find left-wing indoctrination,鈥 at Ohio State, one student said. 鈥淧rofessors want you to challenge them, they want you to disagree.鈥
Civic centers get conservative professors and ideas in front of students
Most of the students interviewed in Chase Center classes said those professors and course materials were right-leaning. As another student put it: 鈥淚t is very Republican and very patriotic. If you come in with a blank slate, you鈥檒l probably come out a Republican.鈥
Chase Center leaders said that there was no political litmus test to join the staff there and that the goal was not to establish a conservative faculty, but one that respects intellectual diversity. Based on conversations with faculty members, it was clear that the center was hiring almost exclusively conservatives. And the academic council that has oversight of Chase has several prominent conservatives and no notable liberal scholars.
Ohio鈥檚 centers are part of a larger national movement to focus on civics education
These civic centers represent a convergence of two top priorities for Republicans: to counteract what they see as a 鈥渨oke,鈥 left-wing bent at universities and to improve and promote civics education. The Trump administration backs both goals and has talked about the importance of promoting patriotic versions of American history, allocating more than $150 million to this effort.
Four of Ohio鈥檚 centers have federal grants totaling more than $8 million to train the state鈥檚 K-12 teachers in civics education. Chase was one of several centers to receive additional funding through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities 鈥 $5 million for more faculty hiring, scholarships and curriculum development.
State lawmakers are taking action as well. Last year, Ohio lawmakers passed a bill that will require all bachelor鈥檚 degree candidates to take an American civics class. The course must teach some of the nation鈥檚 foundational texts as well as lessons about capitalism. Chase and the state鈥檚 other civic centers will play a key role in teaching these classes.
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