Academic Bill of Rights

From the Washington Times:

Three years ago, David Horowitz came to Colorado to promote his newly inked Academic Bill of Rights, a plan the radical-turned-conservative activist said was needed to liberate students from an oppressive atmosphere of liberal groupthink at the nation's universities.

So exactly what is contained in the Academic Bill of Rights? You can click on the link and read the whole thing, but there is an excellent summary on Powerline:

1. Faculty members shall be hired and fired based on their competence and expertise, not their political or religious beliefs.

2. No faculty member shall be excluded from hiring, firing or tenure committees based on political or religious beliefs.

3. Students will be graded solely on their knowledge of a subject matter, not political or religious beliefs.

4. Reading lists should reflect a broad range of knowledge within a discipline.

5. Faculty will expose students to a wide range of viewpoints, not use their courses "for the purpose of political, ideological, religious or anti-religious indoctrination.

6. Campus speakers should reflect a broad range of viewpoints.

7. Efforts to censor viewpoints by obstructing invited speakers or destroying literature will not be tolerated.

8. Academic institutions and professional societies should maintain a position of organizational neutrality on scholarly disputes over research.

Who can be opposed to such sensible ideas? Well, Soros funded groups for one and the American Federation of Teachers for another:

Jamie Horwitz, who acts as a spokesman both for Free Exchange on Campus and the American Federation of Teachers, said the opposition was slow to react because "we dismissed it at first as the rantings of an ideologue."

If you heard someone call the American Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as the rantings of an ideologue, you would be able to classify that person very quickly as a raving loon. But these people actually run well funded organizations like Free Exchange on Campus and the American Federation of Teachers. And they are opposed to the free exchange of ideas, balance in presenting viewpoints, the respect for diversity and elimination of censorship on campus.