Students For Academic Freedom

Penn State Student Govenment Passes Academic Freedom Bill · 16 March 2005

By Vicky Cangelosi

When I first arrived at Penn State in Fall of 2003, I was an eighteen-year-old from a small town in Southeast Pennsylvania, and I was completely unprepared for "the college experience." I had never lived away from home for more than a month, I had never been among 40,000 strangers, and I had no idea how to do laundry. Luckily, I adapted to my new surroundings relatively quickly, joined the College Republicans, and made several new friends. The one thing I didn't count on was the huge difference in classroom learning from high school to college.

In high school, I loved all of my teachers. There was the occasional nut, but for the most part, I had a relationship of mutual respect with all of my educators. Even if my high school teachers disagreed with my opinions, they would still grant me the opportunity to speak my mind, and I knew that I would never have to worry about receiving a bad grade on a paper because a teacher disagreed with my position.

In college, I faced the disquieting reality of a faculty that was mostly liberal and, at times, rather hostile towards conservative students. I sat in classrooms where liberal professors would not call on conservative students who had their hands raised. I believe that my womens' studies professor actually gave me a lower grade on a paper than I deserved, because despite the fact that I'd fulfilled the assignment to a tee, she disagreed with the logical conservative position I authored. That same professor later called another conservative girl in my class a "f--king idiot" for expressing a conservative opinion. This woman is still teaching at Penn State.

Then, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC in January of 2004, I learned about Students for Academic Freedom. I signed up for their e-mail list, and began following their successes across the nation. I was thrilled that I was not alone in recognizing the problem of discrimination against conservative students on college campuses. When I heard that they were trying to bring academic freedom legislation to Pennsylvania, I wanted to help any way I could.

I used my elected seat in the Undergraduate Student Government Senate to introduce the following legislation, which passed on March 2, 2005 in a vote of 11 to 1, with 3 abstentions. I am very excited about this small contribution to the movement for academic freedom, and I hope that this helps pave the way for academic freedom legislation to pass in Pennsylvania.

Vicky Cangelosi is a junior at Penn State University.

STUDENTS FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM

WHEREAS, Students for Academic Freedom is an organization dedicated to the promotion of academic diversity at colleges and universities across the nation through the Student Bill of Rights, and;

WHEREAS, the USG Senate is a voice for all students at Penn State, University Park, and;

WHEREAS, Students for Academic Freedom has recognized Penn State as a university where some problems have arisen where students have been discriminated against based on their political beliefs of affiliation, and;

WHEREAS, Students for Academic Freedom is working with Pennsylvania legislators to fix this problem by having Pennsylvania adopt the Student Bill of Rights, therefore;

BE IT RESOLVED, that USG Senate formally endorse the Student Bill of Rights and applaud the efforts of Students for Academic Freedom in Pennsylvania.

Respectfully Submitted,

Vicky Cangelosi
South Halls Senator
GRC

Alex Ibrahim
Pollock Senator
OC Chair

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