Student Union
Website Asks Students to Report 'Leftist' Profs
Professor Watchlist displays a photo gallery of professors and educators the website says have an anti-conservative bias.
The website was created by Turning Point USA, an organization founded in 2013 "to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government," it says.
Critics say Professor Watchlist is meant to chill free speech among liberal or non-conservative educators.
"The apparent purpose is to curtail free speech in the classroom," said Hans-Joerg Tiede of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
"If any of information is false, we'll happily remove it," said spokesperson Matt Lamb, Turning Point's director of Constitutional enforcement and transparency, who graduated in 2015 from Loyola University Chicago.
Teacher profiles include a photo and a short blurb that describes how a professor exhibited an anti-conservative bias, according to Professor Watchlist. It links to websites like Campus Reform and Judicial Watch.
Campus Reform is a product of Leadership Institute, whose mission is "to increase the number and effectiveness of conservative activists and leaders in the public policy process." It is staffed by self-described conservatives, libertarians and Republicans.
Judicial Watch is "a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, [that] promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law. Through its educational endeavors, Judicial Watch advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our nation’s public life and seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people.
"Judicial Watch fulfills its educational mission through litigation, investigations, and public outreach," according to its website.
Assistant Professor Melita Garza is one of the teachers featured on the watchlist. Garza was accused by a student for failing him and removing him from class because she did not agree with his conservative perspective on feminism, according to TCU360, "a student-led, faculty advised ... part of the TCU Student Media," its website says.
The source for Professor Watchlist's inclusion of Garza is an article from Texas Christian University, whose original source was Hypeline, a publication of Turning Point USA, which owns Professor Watchlist.
Garza said she could not comment because of student privacy issues. Calls to TCU administration were not immediately answered.
While students on college campuses overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the November 2016 election, conservative students say they feel outweighed.
At Yale, 81 percent of students supported Clinton, reported theYale Daily News. At the University of Virginia, 75 percent of students said they would vote for Clinton and 13 percent backed Trump, the conservative candidate, according to the Cavalier Daily.
And at Harvard University, the Crimson student newspaper said 87 percent of students there would vote for Clinton, while 6 percent said they would vote for Trump.
Meanwhile, the Yale Daily News found that 95 percent of conservative students felt their views were unwelcome.
Critics say student complaints should be handled through college or university channels.
"AAUP does not condone discrimination of students based on political views," Tiede said. "Every university has mechanisms to deal with student allegations. If somebody wishes to complain, that will be reviewed by the institution."
Turning Point was founded by Charlie Kirk, a 21-year-old from Chicago. Kirk's LinkedIn profile indicates he graduated from Wheeling High School in Illinois in 2012, but does not list college attendance or degree.
Atlantic magazine in 2015 reported that Kirk was enrolled part time in online classes at King's College in New York, a "Christian, liberal arts college in the heart of New York City," according to its website.
Kirk said he started Turning Point USA with the slogan, "Big government sucks." His profile says he reports on bias in higher education.
"Since launching Turning Point, Kirk has written op-eds for the Washington Times and Breitbart, appeared frequently on Fox News and CNBC, built a network of thousands of student activists around the country, and been entrusted with, he says, at least $1 million by donors enthralled by his conservative promise," said the profile that Atlantic magazine wrote about Kirk in 2015. "His backers swear he's the future of conservative politics—and he's only just old enough to drink.
"Kirk ... is a reasoned and articulate advocate for his peers who is taken seriously by older generations of conservatives," the article said.
Rating professors is not unusual or atypical. Students can check out how other students rate professors -- on ratemyprofessor.com -- in grading or lecturing.
Students can see how other students rated professors' overall quality, level of difficulty, whether or not they need a text book, and general feedback. And students can add a chili pepper to indicate whether a teacher is "hot."
Since ProfessorWatchlist has gone viral, social media began trending #trollprofwatchlist. Parody submissions to Professor Watchlist range from Harry Potter character Lord Voldemort to Jesus Christ to President-Elect Donald Trump:
In a New York Times Opinion piece, writer George Yancy, a professor of philosophy at Emory University and the author of “Black Bodies, White Gazes” and “Look, a White!” and a co-editor of “Pursuing Trayvon Martin,” say this:
"Well, if it is dangerous to teach my students to love their neighbors, to think and rethink constructively and ethically about who their neighbors are, and how they have been taught to see themselves as disconnected and neoliberal subjects, then, yes, I am dangerous, and what I teach is dangerous."
This story was reported and curated by VOA Interns Arnella Sandy, Rebecca Hankins and Brittney Welch and editor Kathleen Struck.
What do you think of reporting professors' political views? Please leave a comment, and post on our Facebook page, thanks!
See all News Updates of the Day
International students may be able to get jobs at school
International students studying in the United States may be able to work on campus.
Jobs can include working in libraries, labs, food service and dormitories – but students will have to research the rules before applying for jobs, according to U.S. News & World Report. (September 2024)
Report says college rankings have the potential to mislead
Each year, prominent lists of college and university rankings are compiled and released to the public, but a report conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago says those rankings have the potential to mislead.
Writing in Forbes, Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier says changing methodologies can distort results, and profit motives can create doubt. He argues that rankings should be replaced by an objective rating system. (September 2024)
College athletes push for voter turnout while largely avoiding controversy as election nears
Lily Meskers faced an unexpected choice in the lead-up to the first major election she can vote in.
The 19-year-old University of Montana sprinter was among college athletes in the state who received an inquiry from Montana Together asking if she was interested in a name, image and likeness deal to support Sen. Jon Tester, a three-term Democrat seeking re-election. The group, which is not affiliated with the Tester campaign, offered from $400 to $2,400 to athletes willing to produce video endorsements.
Meskers, who is from Colorado but registered to vote in Montana, decided against the deal because she disagrees with Tester's votes on legislation involving transgender athletes in sports.
"I was like, OK, I believe that this is a political move to try to gain back some voters that he might have lost," Meskers said. "And me being a female student-athlete myself, I was not going to give my endorsement to someone who I felt didn't have the same support for me."
Professional athletes such as LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick and Stephen Curry have taken high-profile stances on hot-button topics and political campaigns in recent years, but college athletes are far less outspoken — even if money is available, according to experts in the NIL field. Being outwardly political can reflect on their school or endanger potential endorsement deals from brands that don't want controversy. It can certainly establish a public image for an athlete — for better or for worse — or lead to tensions with teammates and coaches who might not feel the same way.
There are examples of political activism by college athletes: A Texas Tech kicker revealed his support for former President Donald Trump on a shirt under his uniform at a game last week and a handful of Nebraska athletes a few days ago teamed up in a campaign ad against an abortion measure on the Tuesday's ballot.
Still, such steps are considered rare.
"It can be viewed as risky and there may be people telling them just don't even take that chance because they haven't made it yet," said Lauren Walsh, who started a sports branding agency 15 years ago. She said there is often too much to lose for themselves, their handlers and in some cases, their families.
"And these individuals still have to figure out what they're going to do with the rest of their lives, even those that do end up getting drafted," she added.
College coaches are not always as reticent. Auburn men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl has used social media to make it clear he does not support Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic opponent in next week's presidential election. Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy once caused a stir with a star player for wearing a shirt promoting a far-right news outlet.
Blake Lawrence, co-founder of the NIL platform Opendorse, noted that this is the first presidential election in the NIL era, which began in July 2021. He said athletes are flocking to opportunities to help increase voter turnout in the 18-to-24 age demographic, adding that one of his company's partners has had 86 athletes post social media messages encouraging turnout through the first half of the week.
He said athletes are shying away from endorsing specific candidates or causes that are considered partisan.
"Student-athletes are, for the most part, still developing their confidence in endorsing any type of product or service," he said. "So if they are hesitant to put their weight behind supporting a local restaurant or an e-commerce product, then they are certainly going to be hesitant to use their social channels in a political way."
Giving athletes a voice
Many college athletes have opted to focus on drumming up turnout in a non-partisan manner or simply using their platforms to take stands that are not directly political in nature. Some of those efforts can be found in battleground states.
A progressive group called NextGen America said it had signed players in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia to encourage voting among young people. Another organization, The Team, said it prepped 27 college athletes in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona and Michigan to lead volunteer voter participation opportunities for students. The organization also said it got more than 625 coaches to sign a nonpartisan pledge to get their athletes registered to vote.
The Team's executive director is Joe Kennedy, a former coach who coordinated championship visits and other sporting events at the White House during President Barack Obama's administration. In early October, it hosted a Zoom event during which panelists such as NCAA President Charlie Baker and WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Natasha Cloud gave college athletes advice about using their platforms on campus.
In its early days, The Team seized upon momentum from the record turnout seen in the 2020 election. The NCAA that year said Division I athletes could have Election Day off from practice and play to vote. Lisa Kay Solomon, founder of the All Vote No Play campaign, said even if the athletes don't immediately take stands on controversial issues, it's important for them to learn how.
"It is a lot to ask our young people to feel capable and confident on skills they've never had a chance to practice," Solomon said. "We have to model what it means to practice taking risks, practice standing up for yourself, practice pausing to think about what are the values that you care about — not what social media is feeding into your brain, but what do you care about and how do you express that? And how do you do it in a way that honors the kind of future that you want to be a part of?"
Shut up and play?
Two years ago, Tennessee-Martin quarterback Dresser Winn said he would support a candidate in a local district attorney general race in what experts said was very likely the first political NIL deal by a college athlete.
There have been very few since.
The public criticism and fallout for athletes who speak out on politics or social issue can be sharp. Kaepernick, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, hasn't played in an NFL game since January 2017, not long after he began kneeling during the national anthem at games.
Meskers, the Montana sprinter, said political endorsements through NIL deals could create problems for athletes and their schools.
"I just think that NIL is going to run into a lot of trouble and a lot of struggles if they continue to let athletes do political endorsements," she said. "I just think it's messy. But I stand by NIL as a whole. I think it's really hard as a student athlete to create a financial income and support yourself."
Walsh said it's easier for wealthy and veteran stars like James and Ogwumike to take stands. James, the Los Angeles Lakers star, started More Than a Vote — an organization with a mission to "educate, energize and protect Black voters" — in 2020. He has passed the leadership to Ogwumike, who just finished her 13th year in the WNBA and also is the president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association. More than a Vote is focused on women's rights and reproductive freedom this year.
"They have very established brands," Walsh said. "They know who they are and they know what their political stance is. They know that they have a really strong following that -- there's always going to be haters, but they're also always going to have that strong following of people who listen to everything that they have to say."
Andra Gillespie, an associate professor at Emory University who teaches African American politics, also said it is rare that a college athlete would make a significant impact with a political stand simply because they tend to have a more regional platform than national. Even celebrities like Taylor Swift and Eminem are better at increasing turnout than championing candidates.
"They are certainly very beneficial in helping to drive up turnout among their fans," Gillespie said. "The data is less conclusive about whether or not they're persuasive – are they the ones who are going to persuade you to vote for a particular candidate?"
Athletes as influencers
Still, campaigns know young voters are critical this election cycle, and athletes offer an effective and familiar voice to reach them.
Political and social topics are not often broached, but this week six Nebraska athletes — five softball players and a volleyball player — appeared in an ad paid for by the group Protect Women and Children involving two initiatives about abortion laws on Tuesday's ballot.
The female athletes backed Initiative 434, which would amend the state constitution to prohibit abortions after the first trimester, with exceptions. Star softball player Jordy Bahl said on social media that the athletes were not paid.
A University of Montana spokesperson said two athletes initially agreed to take part in the NIL deal backing Tester. The school said one withdrew and the other declined to be interviewed.
For Meskers, deciding against the offer boiled down to Tester twice voting against proposals to bar federal funds from going to schools that allow transgender athletes to play women's sports, a prominent GOP campaign topic. Tester's campaign said the proposals were amendments to government spending packages, and he didn't want to play a role in derailing them as government shutdowns loomed.
"As a former public school teacher and school board member, Jon Tester believes these decisions should be made at the local level," a Tester spokesperson said. "He has never voted to allow men to compete against women."
Meskers said she believes using influence as college athletes is good and she is in favor of NIL. She just doesn't think the two should mix specifically for supporting candidates.
"I think especially as student athletes, we do have such a big voice and we do have a platform to use," she said. "So I think if you're encouraging people to do their civic duties and get up and go (vote), I think that's a great thing."
- By VOA News
Bloomberg Philanthropies says investment in low-income students fell short
More than $140 million from billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s charitable programs have been spent getting talented low-income students into top colleges, but an analysis of those programs found they fell short of goals.
The Wall Street Journal took a look at the programs, their objectives, and how they haven’t led to the results Bloomberg Philanthropies wanted to see. (September 2024)
- By VOA News
Music students find community through 'international chat' program
State University of New York at Fredonia is trying a new method to help international music students feel at home.
A professor at the school hosts informal chats -- known as "international chat" -- several times a semester. The goal, the school says in an article, is to function "as a study group session for international students facing challenges that are unique to international students."
Read the full story here. (October 2024)
