Brown University’s Woke Professors Battle Diversity (of Viewpoint) By Jack Wolfsohn
One of the best places on campus for genuine intellectual discourse is being targeted by those who prefer left-wing conformity.
A mid the leftist-infused classrooms of Brown University lies a small, unassuming white building that houses the Political Theory Project (PTP). As an interdisciplinary research center committed to free inquiry and the free exchange of ideas, the PTP has been a haven for conservative and libertarian students for the past 19 years. But it’s not merely a “safe space” for the Right; it has, rather, fostered genuine intellectual inquiry for anyone interested in it.
Now, however, the PTP is under a sadly familiar sort of attack from many of Brown’s left-leaning professors. These professors feel threatened by the PTP because the courses offered by the center, such as “Bleeding Heart Libertarianism,” “Capitalism: For and Against,” and “20th Century Political Economy” tend to offer a centrist or libertarian angle on issues that challenge the progressive orthodoxy on campus. Their criticisms of a bastion of free thought at Brown are misguided and should be rejected.
The Political Theory Project makes clear in its mission statement its commitment to viewpoint diversity and freedom of speech and expression. Thus, the PTP has sought to bring to campus through its Janus Forum Lecture Series ideologically diverse speakers to debate issues such as the extent of the threat of climate change, whether the U.S. should support Israel, and whether “rape culture” exists on campus. For years, the PTP has held free-flowing conversations at which participants sparred openly on contentious issues and debated controversial opinions. But rather than welcoming such exchanges, some students and professors have accumulated negative feelings toward the project that now spill over into open denunciation.
These resentments percolate at the exact moment that discussions between the administration and faculty regarding the proposed creation of a new Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE), which would absorb the PTP and its programs, are ongoing. The proposal was put forward by Brown University president Christina Paxson and is backed by provost Richard Locke. However, many faculty members are pushing back. They allege the PTP is right-leaning, and they strongly oppose the fact that the PTP has received funding from the Koch Foundation. Associate professor of history Seth Rockman stated, “Many members of our faculty have felt that the PTP has been a pernicious presence on campus for nearly 20 years and that it has thumbed its nose at many of the commitments we have made to diversity, equity and inclusion.” Associate professor of American history, American studies, and ethnic studies Naoko Shibusawa has made her political motives for opposing the proposal clear. Shibusawa said that the absorption of the partially Koch-funded PTP into a PPE Center would be “furthering the Koch agenda, in ways that would be contrary to the very values and mission that Brown is trying to promote. Feminism, reproductive rights, anti-racism, science.” Unlike Shibusawa, one may have assumed that Brown’s mission was that of a traditional university: the pursuit of knowledge and truth.
Despite their criticism of the Political Theory Project’s funding, Brown professors are noticeably silent about the large donations Brown receives from left-leaning corporations. Among Brown’s largest corporate donors are the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, both of which support liberal causes. Bill Gates has also been embroiled in scandal, having once maintained a suspicious relationship with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And Gates continued meeting with Epstein even after Epstein had been found guilty of soliciting prostitution from minors, but the faculty is not objecting to that donation.
As for the professors’ lament that the PTP is right-leaning, it’s worth noting that there is no shortage of leftist professors on Brown’s campus. The first day of freshman year, almost all of my professors found room in their lectures to rail against then-president Donald Trump, no matter whether the subject was history, economics, or astronomy. It is difficult to find a class where a professor does not inject his or her leftist views into their lectures. While the school purports to value diversity, there is an obvious dearth of viewpoint diversity. This is why the PTP is so important.
The Political Theory Project has been a welcome place for conservative and libertarian students who have difficulty finding classes at Brown in which they can speak freely. According to Heterodox Academy’s 2020 Campus Expression Survey, 62 percent of college students felt that their campus climate prevented students from saying things they believed. This is why places such as the PTP — and, on the other side of the country, Stanford University’s similarly nonconformist (and unjustly attacked) Hoover Institution — need to exist. The PTP serves as a free-speech refuge immune to the radical campus climate at Brown. As one of the few outspoken conservatives on campus, I have taken classes offered by the PTP. I was more engaged and felt more comfortable speaking my mind freely. And I know I’m not the only person on campus to have benefited from the PTP’s work.
If and when the Political Theory Project merges with the new Politics, Philosophy, and Economics Center on campus, there will be a wider array of ideas and viewpoints accessible to the Brown student body. One hopes that the Political Theory Project will remain true to its mission, and free speech and free expression will receive a larger platform. The Brown administration would be smart to reject the arguments of activist professors and continue as planned with the merger of the Political Theory Project with a new PPE Center.
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