The Angry Conservative

    So, school begins. It is that time of year when I send my little ones off to school to recieve a public education. My eldest daughter starts high school this year while my youngest is in pre-school. While my youngest is acutually in a Catholic pre-school she will next year join the thousands that send their children off to be indoctrinated from Kindergarten to college by a powerful union of teachers and public employees who often have competing interestes in the classroom.
    I my self am fininishing up my BA in History from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. A fine instituion indeed, but one in which I am finding is increasingly liberal and not even close to the diverse nature they so truly pine about. From the second you step in any building on campus the literature that is attached to the buliten boards and the bumper sticker on the students and teachers vehicles can lead one to only one conclusion. That being that U of M-Dearborn really wants none of the "diversity" they trumpet about all the time, unless they mean diversity of appearance. From this link here you can see they want to increase enrollment at the school from 9,000 to 12,000. They specifically want to increase the quality and diversity of our students they say. What does that mean exactly? They have a "Metropolitan Vision" for the University, one which is more hands on with the surrounding community.
    This sounds like a noble and worthy cause as any I have heard, but wait can it really be that simple. Just because you say the word diversity doesn't mean you actually mean it. I believe that thier standard of diversity is purely racial. I have taken many classes there and have had more than one professor speak thier political opinions as fact to students. Given the minority of students will be college conservative when you hear your history professor compare President Bush to Adolph Hitler a dozen times over a semester you get the idea that diversity of opions, the only real diversity these days, is not welcome here.
    Sure the university will tell you they have workshops and student organizations that cater to students of all ideological persuasions but this is different that the indoctrinazation that goes on in the classroom. As a working adult with a wife and two children I take my education seriously. If I am going to miss time with my family it had better be for a worthy venture, as I believe college to be. But I also believe that it shouldn't be the most frustrating thing either. I usually take three classes a semester, which with working 50 hours a week is quite a challenge. But when you add to that an environment that is sometime downright hostile to conservatives it adds a level of stress.
    I used to attend classes at Central Michigan University at their college of extended learning. They have several small campuses in the Metro Detroit area. I found for the most part working adults can be some of the worst complainers when it comes to homework and classroom participation. I also found that some students see college as something of an annoyance, something they have to do to advance. That being said I did not see the same liberal bais there as I do at U of M-Dearborn. With one exception, I took a racism and inequality class at CMU in Dearborn which Hurricane Katrina happened during the 3rd week of class. What I saw was the most shocking display of mob mentality I have ever seen. I was shouted at and called a liar for simply presenting facts they didn't agree with. The teacher totally lost control of that class. Most shocking of all this was that several of the students would sleep through class not even trying to digest what the teacher was trying to impart on them but they would wake up at the end of class for discussion, or a chance to yell.
    Now I am not trying to link my single experiance at CMU with U of M-Dearborn with the exception that I have had on more than 1 occasion in different classes ranging from Music history and appreaciation to Germany before Hitiler, have professors make disparing comments about the President and Repulicans that usually had nothing to do with the subject at hand. Sometimes it is just the students themselves that like to make these arguments, usually when the oppurtunity arises to spout off. The left is right, it is just the loudest.
    Freedom of speech aside, providing an atmosphere consdusive to learning and debate should be the goal of any educational instituion, from Kindergarten to a doctorate program. When colleges fail to provide such and environment and clearly allow others to stiffle the educational process with thier own narrow vision of the present then we have a problem. I will be detailing thes challenges as a college conservative as I see them here. Check back often and let me know what you think by emailing me here.

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