Jim Lindgren writes that '[t]he historian K C Johnson has an interesting, link-filled article on ideological and intellectual diversity at Inside Higher Ed. ... Johnson ... critiques three excuses for ideological homogeneity:

1. The cultural left is, simply, more intelligent than anyone else.

As SUNY-Albany’s Ron McClamrock reasoned, "Lefties are overrepresented in academia because on average, we’re just f-ing smarter." The first recent survey came in early 2004, when the Duke Conservative Union disclosed that Duke’s humanities departments contained 142 registered Democrats and 8 registered Republicans. Philosophy Department chairman Robert Brandon considered the results unsurprising: "If, as John Stuart Mill said, stupid people are generally conservative, then there are lots of conservatives we will never hire." ...

2. A left-leaning tilt in the faculty is a pedagogical necessity, because professors must expose gender, racial, and class bias while promoting peace, "diversity" and "cultural competence."

According to Montclair State's Grover Furr, "colleges and universities do not need a single additional 'conservative' .... What they do need, and would much benefit from, is more Marxists, radicals, leftists -- all terms conventionally applied to those who fight against exploitation, racism, sexism, and capitalism. We can never have too many of these, just as we can never have too few 'conservatives.'" ...

3. A left-leaning professoriate is a structural necessity, because the liberal arts faculty must balance business school faculty and/or the general conservative political culture.

Originally by Jim Lindgren at The Volokh Conspiracy, 9:45 PM

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