Liberty University Usurps Students' Liberty

Falwell's Liberty University is a misnomer. Today, I read that the University demanded that the Student Democratic Club disband, and they threatened its 30 members with expulsion if they did not. They did not, however, place the same restrictions on the Student Republican Club.

University Administration evidentially decided that the Democratic Candidates are in direct opposition to the University's goals. They did not like the fact that its members actively supported Obama in the last presidential race.

Last I checked, universities' goals involved preparing their students for the "real world", and teaching them critical thinking skills. I guess at Liberty, the only type of thinking they want to foster is right-wing conservatism. Dare to have an opposing view on anything, and I guess you just don't belong there. They don't want your type in their hallowed halls.

Is Liberty trying to produce critical thinkers, or sheep? Are they trying to teach their students to challenge their belief systems, or merely to parrot what they're told?

I must confess: I went to a small, conservative, private Baptist University located in Virginia. Although the Student Democratic Club was much smaller than the Student Republican Club, it received the same University funding, resources, and support. During significant National elections, the two clubs sponsored debates in order to challenge the other side's views, and hopefully, sway a few attendees to change sides. It helped induce all students to vote according to the candidate and the issue, rather than following strict party lines.

Liberty University is also a small, conservative, private university located in Virginia. As a private school, it has a right to promote any viewpoint it so chooses. But it is doing its student body a great disservice by stifling the voice with which it doesn't necessarily agree, rather than encouraging students to listen to that voice, to assess what it has to say, and to filter it through their own view of the world. College is supposed to help you learn to see the weaknesses in others' arguments. They are also doing a disservice to their own mission. Their graduates will have missed the opportunity to experience the other side. They may be able to quote the company line, but they will have difficulty explaining why they do.

I'm glad I live in a country where the First Amendment gives me a right to speak my mind. I'm glad my country's educational system values critical thinking and examining all sides of an issue. I'm glad I live in a country that has educational choice and freedom, allowing me to go where I want to study what interests me. And I hope that all potential college students, of all political affiliations, who value choice will think twice about attending Liberty. Finally, I hope those free-thinking students at Liberty, currently being threatened with expulsion, start thinking about transferring to another school.

(Original Article: Washington Post)