Conservative students should express their views, resist ideological bias, and defend free speech, Robert George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times.
“My advice to students who fear that they will be subjected to discrimination and double standards is this: Don’t hide and don’t be silent,” George wrote. He stated that many conservative students experience hostility on campus and are right to be concerned.
“Exercise and, if necessary, defend your right to think for yourself and to dissent from campus orthodoxies,” he wrote.
He also warned students not to view themselves as victims or build an “identity around grievances” despite the hostility they may face.
Students should resist indoctrination and be wary of lectures or readings that only cover one side of a controversial issue, George stated.
He wrote:
If a professor tries to indoctrinate you, resist. How will you know? In courses covering controversial subjects, the lectures and readings may present only one side of a dispute or present only weak versions of competing perspectives. A good professor, on the other hand, especially in the social sciences and humanities, will challenge students’ views even if he or she happens to agree with them. A good professor’s goal is not to convert students but to prod them to think.
He encouraged students to approach their studies with “intellectual humility,” as “any of us can be wrong, and all of us sometimes are wrong.”
If most people on campus share the same views on topics like marriage, sexuality, or politics, it’s crucial to seek out opposing perspectives, George stated.
Whether you’re conservative or progressive, critical thinking requires engaging with ideas that challenge your own. True discernment comes from exposing yourself to different viewpoints, even if they make you uncomfortable, he added.
George also encouraged students to “resist the impulse to self-censor when speaking your mind might offend the sensibilities of people who insist on others holding the same opinions they hold.”
“And there is still more you can do: Defend others’ right to think for themselves and express their views,” George wrote.
“When you defend the robust right of free speech for all, you help to secure a central value without which the university cannot pursue its mission as a truth-seeking institution,” he stated.
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