December 11, 2008 07:23 PM UTC

Bruce Ben$on's "Academic Freedom" Chutzpah

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• by: Colorado Pols

The CU Campus Press reports:

CU is looking to hire someone for a position unheard of in colleges and universities across the nation: an endowed chair in conservative thought and policy.

“It’s a little bit like if we’re hiring someone to teach French,” said CU Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “They don’t have to be from France. Now you could make a case that someone from France could do a better job. So does it have to be a conservative? No. Is it likely that it will be? Probably.”

CU is currently developing a $9 million program which will bring nationally recognized conservative scholars to teach on the Boulder campus. The program will allow CU to create an endowment for a visiting chair in conservative thought.

The endowed chair in conservative thought and policy is said by CU officials to promote intellectual diversity on campus…

What’s funny about this is how the whole argument conservatives have been making for years about “academic freedom” is that there shouldn’t be “ideological bias” in the classroom. As in one way or the other–the David Horowitz crowd has always been very clear on this point, since to claim anything else would invite charges of hypocrisy.

That is, until Republicans take control of the university–then it’s okay to have a $9 million department of “ideological bias?” How does this not fly in the face of everything they’ve been prattling about since before Ward Churchill snarled his way onto the front page?

If that’s not enough irony for you, CU President Bruce “Not a GOP Kingpin Anymore” Benson published a guest editorial in the Denver Post today titled “Higher ed still must be fed”:

In the 2002 recession, CU’s state appropriation plummeted by $60 million, to $150 million. We’ve rebounded to 2002 levels, but we also educate 20 percent more students. Tuition backfilled a portion of the hole, yet that’s not our desired solution. But we invested it in financial aid and maintained access for Colorado students.

While tuition rises more than anyone wants, ours is still below that of national peers. The more state funding, the less tuition we charge. Unfortunately, revenues are not keeping up with costs. The state even imposes mandates we must meet, such as some salary increases and financial aid targets, without providing funding.

We continually work to control expenditures, but already run a tight ship. Overhead costs are about three-quarters of those of our national peers. There are no quick fixes…

He’s right that the colleges desperately need money of course (which was allegedly Benson’s big qualification for his job), but penning this on the same day as details come out about this quixotic “conservative studies” professorship? Is that what he’s spending his golden time raising money for?

We agree, Bruce, CU needs money–and helpfully, we just found $9 million extra dollars for you.