UW-Madison is among the most liberal

Group:
UW-Madison is among the most liberal

http://www.lakelandtimes.com/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=9&ArticleID=11818

Not a shock to most Wisconsinites

8/27/2010
by Richard Moore

It probably doesn't shock anybody in Wisconsin, but according to one
group, CampusReform.org, the University of Wisconsin is one of the
most liberally biased universities in the United States.

Its research shows liberal political bias based on the school's
faculty, student organizations, and administrative policies.

For example, liberal student groups at Wisconsin outnumber
conservative groups by 25 to six, the group states. The 25 liberal
student groups include Advocates for Choice, a pro-abortion
organization; the Allies Program; the ACLU Student Alliance
UW-Madison; Amnesty International; Campus Antiwar Network; and the
Campus Women's Center.

The six conservative student groups are the College Republicans; The
Badger Herald; Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), which
promotes free-market environmental solutions; the Federalist Society;
Students for Life; and Young Americans for Liberty (YAL).

The organization also contends that similar political bias exists
among the university's staff. For example, the group states, 94
percent of the school's contributing faculty and staff gave their
political donations to Democratic candidates, while 97 percent of the
dollars in political donations went to Democratic candidates.

In total, 248 members of the University of Wisconsin faculty and
staff donated to Democratic candidates and 15 to Republican candidates.

Of the contributing members of the university's 18-member Board of
Regents, just one person donated to a Republican candidate in the
2008 presidential election.

Barrett

In 2006, the university received major attention for allowing
lecturer Kevin Barrett to teach a course on Islamic history and
culture, the group states.

Barrett had argued that the Sept. 11 attacks were planned and
committed by the U.S. government and that al Qaeda was invented by
the CIA, according to CampusReform.org. According to a report from
the Badger Herald, Barrett planned to devote class time to suggest
"the 9/11 events were an inside job overseen by the Bush administration."

However, the university begged to differ.

After his views on the attacks became known, the university conducted
a review of the course materials as well as his past teaching evaluations.

"There is no question that Mr. Barrett holds personal opinions that
many people find unconventional," university provost Patrick Farrell
said. "These views are expected to take a small, but significant,
role in the class. To the extent that his views are discussed, Mr.
Barrett has assured me that students will be free - and encouraged -
to challenge his viewpoint."

Farrell said that Barrett told him that the semester-long course
would spend a week examining current issues, including a brief
discussion of various views on the war on terror, the university
stated. Barrett told Farrell that he planned to base the discussion
on readings from authors representing a variety of viewpoints.

According to the university, Farrell contended that a larger issue
was the UW-Madison's tradition of protecting classroom expression and
encouraging students' critical thinking by allowing analysis of
controversial ideas.

Barrett accepted a one-semester appointment as an associate lecturer.
This is a 50 percent appointment that has a salary of $8,247.

For campusreform. org, it's all proof in the pudding.

"America's colleges and universities are dominated by liberals, and
the University of Wisconsin is no different," Morton Blackwell,
president of the Leadership Institute and founder of
CampusReform.org, said. "Too often, the campus left uses its power to
indoctrinate the next generation."

University policy

As the group points out, all Wisconsin students must complete a
course in ethnic studies to graduate.

According to the university, all students must take one course of at
least three credits which is designated as an ethnic studies course.

"The ethnic studies requirement is intended to increase understanding
of the culture and contributions of persistently marginalized racial
or ethnic groups in the United States, and to equip students to
respond constructively to issues connected with our pluralistic
society and global community," the catalogue states.

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