The Chronicle of Higher Education
Peter Schmidt
Monday, January 12, 2009
Washington
As if President-elect Barack Obama did not have enough on his plate already, speakers at the National Association of Scholars' annual conference expressed hope on Friday that his election would result in big changes on college campuses in terms of race relations and students' freedom of speech.
The speakers expressed such wishes for the new administration during a panel discussion titled "The Changing Political Landscape of Higher Education." Considering who the speakers were, it seemed possible to feel at least a little shifting along old fault lines already, at least within the Washington Marriott meeting room here where the discussion was held.
Hailing Mr. Obama's election as "a racial conversation changer" on campuses was Abigail N. Thernstrom, a Manhattan Institute scholar, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and prominent critic of colleges' affirmative-action policies.
She argued that campuses were "the last place in America" to reflect the thawing of race relations—and the willingness of whites to treat blacks as equals—that she sees Mr. Obama's election as symbolizing. And she predicted that Mr. Obama's inauguration would lead to "less bitterness and estrangement on the part of blacks" at colleges, with the waning of racially themed dormitories, black-studies programs, and self-segregation on campuses.
Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education—a group that monitors free speech on campuses—said he was disappointed by how little effort the Republican Party had put into fighting efforts to restrict students' speech while it held power here in the capital.
Full Story: http://chronicle.com/daily/2009/01/9411n.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
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