The Elephant in the Room: the question of political discrimination at CU

By lauren.thurman in Front Page, Opinion on Sep 12, 2013 0:38 / comments

Opinions do not represent CU Independent or any sponsors.

Next week, the CU Board of Regents will hear a proposal aiming to include political affiliation in the university’s nondiscrimination policy. Several members of the Board have expressed concern that there is a “pervasive liberal bias” on the Boulder campus.

Wait, what? There are liberals in Boulder?

According to the Boulder County Clerk’s Office, 42 percent of active voters in the city are registered as Democrats, while only 19 percent are registered as Republicans. It stands to reason that these percentages hold true on campus, perhaps with an even greater difference between party numbers, what with college being so full of youths.

There has apparently been concern among CU’s faculty and regents for some time as to whether this epidemic of liberalism has any serious side effects. The regents even approved a $100,000 climate survey on the issue in June, scheduled to take place during the upcoming school year. (So if someone approaches you this semester and asks you about your politics, you can calm down — the presidential election campaigners didn’t come early; you’re safe.)

All this hubbub has me wondering what the big deal is. Traditionally, nondiscrimination policies are set up to benefit oppressed or underrepresented persons, such as people with disabilities, members of the LGBT community or any number of individuals who still somehow don’t have the full run of our Constitution.

Conservatives, meanwhile, seem to be doing just fine. Republicans carry the House, conservative news outlets are thriving and recent events suggest even our president might harbor some right-wing tendencies. Why the need to explicitly ensure fair treatment of conservatives on campus?

William O’Bryan, a sophomore classics major and current secretary for the College Republicans, said that the left-wing atmosphere contributes to “a view of conservatives as people to be casually mocked.” This view, it seems, is prevalent among staff as well as students. “Professors and other students… make jokes about Republicans and conservatives without realizing that I or others might not like that.”

Aslinn Scott, a senior communications major, said that the problem goes beyond playful classroom banter. “I feel that my academic reputation has been at risk because I have been open [about my political beliefs] in the classroom and with some of my teachers,” Scott said.

Scott, 22, is the Chair of the Colorado Federation of College Republicans. During a presidential visit last fall, she organized a group of students to protest the Obama administration’s economic policies.

“I was told to ‘go to hell,’ among other things,” Scott said.

While all these examples give me a healthy dose of shame in my fellow Buffs, they nevertheless seem like symptoms of campus culture, not policy.

Boulder has been the Mecca of liberal hotspots for some time now. It can be easy for those of us living in our granola-sprinkled paradise to forget to treat people with different views respectfully — or that other views exist at all. It’s important to be aware that even pacifists and hippies are susceptible to mob psychology.

However, to assert that conservatives at CU are systematically oppressed might be a little far-fetched. And to assume that a policy change will improve the existing judgment and animosity is, at best, optimistic.

Political attitudes are shaped by deep-seated, fundamental, often very personal beliefs. How else could political discussions around the globe be so reliably accompanied by misunderstanding and vitriol? While I don’t believe we’re too far gone to integrate a little courtesy into our daily discourse, I do believe it will take time and a lot of work.

Political discrimination is a worthy opponent to tear down, but the work has to come from the people. If it is the students and staff making our fellow Buffs feel uncomfortable, even unwelcome, then it is the students and staff who will have to get over themselves and address the issue.

A few extra words the Board of Regents puts into the nondiscrimination policy will be about as effective as our drugs and alcohol policy.

Contact CU Inependent staff writer Lauren Thurman at Lauren.Thurman@Colorado.edu.