Academics keep left

The professor sent a vicious response, promising to “expose your right-wing, antipeople politics until groups like yours won’t dare show their face on a college campus”.

In a separate incident, reported in The New York Times, a physics professor at Pennsylvania State University frequently used class time to belittle President Bush and the Iraq war. One student - an Air Force veteran - complained to her state representative, which led to a full-blown legislative enquiry.

In 2002 Janet Albrechtsen wrote about a course offered at the University of California, Berkeley, called Politics and Poetry of Palestinian Resistance. The syllabus advised that “conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections”.

There have been no reports of such extreme political discrimination in Australian universities. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that right-wing students are sometimes marginalised by left-wing academics, which can lead to feelings of isolation and resentment.

Similarly, conservative and liberal academics may find themselves excluded from the university community.

The moral dimension

In 1985 Oxford University refused to confer an honorary degree on Margaret Thatcher. She was the first Oxford-educated prime minister in post-war years to be denied the privilege. The snub was a response to her government’s decision to cut funds for research and education.

The BBC recently published a number of comments about Thatcher, one of which describes her as “an evil, twisted woman who encouraged greed and isolation”.

Left-wing politics is often framed in terms of morality. Right-wing thinkers are regularly accused of moral bankruptcy and inhumanity. For some people the Left’s position is seen as the only ethically viable option. This imbues a sense of righteous fervour which crowds out balanced discussion.

In Australian universities the Left has a firm hold on the moral high ground. This poses a huge threat to diversity of thought. While there is a prevailing belief that right-wing thinking is amoral, any challenge to the left-wing hegemony can be summarily dismissed. It also opens the door for personal attacks on right-wing thinkers, as has been seen on campuses in the United States.

The left-wing domination of universities means that Australian academics should be especially wary of conflating politics and morality.