Letters from the National Campus Director

Required Reading at UNC-Chapel Hill · 04 September 2003

Ehrenreich is an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America and her book blames capitalism and corporations for the hardships suffered by the poor in America.

"Reasonable objections have been made to the use of the university as an instrument of political indoctrination, which is contrary to its educational mission," stated the ad. "The controversy could easily be resolved if the UNC administration were to honor the principle of intellectual diversity, which would simply mean requiring texts on more than one side of this controversial issue." You can view a copy of the ad here and can read our press release about the ad here .

As a service to UNC, the ad included the text of the Academic Bill of Rights, a list of principles that stress the centrality of "intellectual diversity" to academic freedom. The Bill of Rights can be found on our website at www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org.abor.html.

UNC is hardly alone in its decision to assign a controversial, politically-themed book to its incoming freshmen without giving voice to alternative views. At least 6 other schools also assigned Nickel and Dimed this fall. At Duke University, students were expected to read Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities, a left-wing critique of the public school system.

You can rest assured that this week's ad in the Daily Tar Heel is only the beginning of our campaign to protest the exclusion of conservative views from our institutions of higher learning.

If your school assigned a controversial or politically one-sided book as part of freshman orientation, we want to hear about it. Or if you've experienced partisanship on the part of your professors or administrators, there's no reason to keep silent. Please call me at 202-969-2467 or email me at Sara@StudentsforAcademicFreedom.org to make your complaint today. We can help you to organize protests and possibly even take out an ad in your student newspaper to help you make your case for intellectual diversity.

Thank you for supporting Students for Academic Freedom. I look forward to hearing about the situation on your campuses and working with you to bring greater diversity of thought to your schools.

Best Regards,

Sara Russo
National Campus Director
Students for Academic Freedom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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