Ithaca College is part of the national dialogue regarding intellectual diversity. Last week, the campus paper ran this editorial in response to the news that Al Franken is coming to campus to broadcast his radio show.
Today's edition of the campus paper features several comments about the editorial including this one from me.
But I think the most interesting is this one from the dean of the school of communications, Dianne Lynch.
I have been working for years to bring balance to Ithaca College, mostly encouraging that conservative ideas be brought since there is an established infrastructure of liberal ideas be they tenured professors, campus guests (such as Al Franken, Bill Moyers, Ralph Nader, Ben & Jerry, and many more), or coursework (Marxism, feminism, postmodernism).
I applaud the college for bringing Rich Lowry to balance Al Franken. This is certainly a step in the right direction, but much more can be done. There should be more debates on campus, the conservative coursework should be listed in the course catalogue, and orientation and first year seminars should feature intellectual diversity, discussion, critical thinking, and debate, among other ideas the college could implement.
No one disagrees with the importance of intellectual diversity except radical leftists who simply want to keep a hold on their control of ideas and discussion at Ithaca College and at campuses around the country.
