Students For Academic Freedom

Students Protest Ideological Indoctrination at Boise State University · 07 February 2007

Contacts:        

Brandon Stoker                      
Conservative Student Coalition
Boise State University                          
208-850-2554                                    
brandonstoker@mail.boisestat.edu       

The problem? Students claim that nearly all of the guest speakers invited to their university share the same ideological perspective. Specifically, they lament the lack of conservative speakers to provide balance and intellectual diversity. According to the research of students in the Conservative Student Coalition, the Freedom Alliance, and members of ASBSU Student Government, the university has shown gross negligence in balancing the ideas and perspectives offered to students through guest speakers.

"We are convinced that 100% of the estimated $300,000 spent on guest speakers in the last five years was used to finance left-leaning lecturers," says Brandon Stoker, a student activist as Boise State. "This is inexcusable. When the university only presents one side of every issue it's called indoctrination—a practice in which no institution of higher education should be involved."  

Jon Sawmiller, a Senator with the Associated Students of Boise State University, notes that in a major "Campus Climate Survey" released by the University Provost on December 1, 2006, the number one reason for which students reported harassment or intimidation at Boise State was their political views ( 43.2%), followed closely by religious faith (41.8%). "It's unbelievable that in light of these facts, the university lines up more far-left speakers to tote the ideological line when conservative and religious students are crying out for help."

According to the students' research, the ratio of conservative to liberal speakers is more than 6:1. The only three conservatives to visit Boise State since 2002 were paid for with private funds, while 15 of the 18 prominent liberal speakers were paid for by the university.

Students plan to take their complaint to the Idaho State Legislature and the Idaho State Board of Education later this month.

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