Ward Churchill is not a teacher. He is a tax-payer funded opinionated preacher who uses his position of power and influence to prey on students.
On Thursday night, The Colorado professor debated David Horowitz on the George Washington University campus. At issue was whether or not a professor’s politics should be allowed within the classroom (click here to read about the entire debate).
While Horowitz contended that a professor’s political views have no place within academia and that educators should be teaching students “how to think” not “what to think,” Churchill disagreed and said education was “inherently political.”
“The purpose of the professor is to profess … you are to have arrived at conclusions … you are obligated to inform them [students] of what it is you’ve learned and to profess what you’ve come to believe on the basis of that learning,” Churchill said.
To that Horowitz quickly replied, “I can profess. Anyone in this room can profess. …Why are students paying $4,000 a course for an informed opinion or prejudice, which is what it winds up being in the end.”
I walked away from the debate learning that Churchill’s problem - as I’m sure it is with other liberal educators - stems a lack of understanding his position and role as an educator. You see, Churchill would much rather be a left-wing columnist or pundit than a Colorado professor. He doesn’t want to educate his students. He wants to use his classroom to expound upon his opinions and points of view. His students truly don’t receive an education. Instead, they get large, heaping dose of liberal indoctrination.
Consider the following statement Churchill made during the debate after telling the audience that each instructor will have his/her own interpretation of the facts.
“There should be truth in advertising - that should be signified upfront. Not in order to indoctrinate students but quit the opposite effect - to inform students before the fact of the nature of the interpretation. It should be undertaken in this fashion on the basis of extending a challenge - not that you must agree with me, but that you must accept the fact that there are many interpretations.”
“Extending a challenge”?
I’m sorry Professor Churchill, but your role is not that of a debater. It is that of an educator! While you may foster debate among your students, you, yourself, should not be arguing for or against any student. Those enrolled in your class are not experts, and they are certainly not in a position to debate the professor. You hold a number of advantages over your students - one of which is their grades. As an educator, your role within the classroom is that of a moderator, not an active debater paid for by the good people of Colorado. However, if you really want a job as a left-wing pundit where your radical views of the world can be expressed, I suggest you leave academia and apply for a job at CNN or the New York Times.
