Liberal Education

Sandra Korn - A traitor to all that is right and goodSome people question the value of modern, Liberal education. We call those people intelligent, patriotic Americans. This is because, academics aside, there is nothing of value in Liberal education and much that actively seeks to devalue America.

Worse, the higher one goes in education the lower one seems to sink into treason and evil.

Harvard is a perfect example of this. Academically, it’s a very fine university. What it teaches its students beyond academics is another and more horrific story altogether. Take what the once august institution taught one of its students, Sandra Korn, to believe and then allowed it to be published in the The Harvard Crimson as evidence of this.

In its oft-cited Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, the American Association of University Professors declares that “Teachers are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results.” In principle, this policy seems sound: It would not do for academics to have their research restricted by the political whims of the moment.

 Yet the liberal obsession with “academic freedom” seems a bit misplaced to me. After all, no one ever has “full freedom” in research and publication. Which research proposals receive funding and what papers are accepted for publication are always contingent on political priorities. The words used to articulate a research question can have implications for its outcome. No academic question is ever “free” from political realities. If our university community opposes racism, sexism, and heterosexism, why should we put up with research that counters our goals simply in the name of “academic freedom”?

Instead, I would like to propose a more rigorous standard: one of “academic justice.” When an academic community observes research promoting or justifying oppression, it should ensure that this research does not continue.

Yes, that’s right. The Harvard bint was academic and scientific freedom curtailed in favor pandering to the desires and agendas of certain special interest groups and those among the student body who enable them. It’s what she’s been taught is justice, which must, in what passes for her mind, trump freedom every single time.

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