SRJC flap

Imagine a college campus where any teacher who expresses a conservative opinion is singled out by an anonymous accuser who posts messages suggesting that the teacher's views border on fascism. It is fair to say that campus conservatives would be outraged.

At Santa Rosa Junior College, it's really no different with the posting of a red star and a reference to communist indoctrination on the doors of supposedly liberal teachers.

This provocation from a Republican students' group works if the goal is to anger people of a different point of view, but it won't serve as an invitation to an intelligent conversation about academic freedom and the responsibilities of teachers.

The assertion that college students are subject to liberal indoctrination will live on long after this controversy is forgotten.

Are most college faculties more liberal than the general population? Probably. But students wouldn't have any trouble identifying teachers with conservative views.

In a larger sense, this gross generalization disrespects the professionalism of most teachers - and the intelligence of students who, liberal or conservative, manage to make their own choices.