Political Reality on North Carolina Campuses: Examining Policy Debates and Forums with Diverse Viewpoints

Autor/in	La Noue, George R.
Institution	James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal
Titel	Political Reality on North Carolina Campuses: Examining Policy Debates and Forums with Diverse Viewpoints
Quelle	(2021), (51 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Political Attitudes; Freedom of Speech; Higher Education; Campuses; Public Policy; School Schedules; Activism; Minority Groups; Classification; College Faculty; Teacher Attitudes; Student Attitudes; Undergraduate Students; Social Problems; Teacher Student Relationship; Diversity; Policy Analysis; North Carolina + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Political attitude; Politische Einstellung; Redefreiheit; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Öffentliche Ordnung; Schulzeiteinteilung; Aktivismus; Politischer Protest; Ethnische Minderheit; Classification system; Klassifikation; Klassifikationssystem; Fakultät; Lehrerverhalten; Schülerverhalten; Social problem; Soziales Problem; Teacher student relationships; Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung; Politikfeldanalyse
Abstract	Everywhere in higher education, there is a rhetorical affirmation of the values of free speech and the development of informed citizens. North Carolina's state motto in Latin is Esse Quam Videri, which translates to "To Be Rather Than to Seem." So it is reasonable to research what kind of speech actually exists on North Carolina campuses, particularly about public policy issues. This research examines the 2018 and 2019 online calendars for 37 four-year North Carolina campuses to record all their multi-speaker policy events. These events were then classified as debates or forums in 24 different policy areas. Because some calendars were incomplete or difficult to interpret, follow-up emails were sent to campus reference librarians, archivists, and chief academic officers to try to assure accuracy. Survey after survey shows that faculty are increasingly one-sided in their political identifications, that many students are fearful of expressing their policy opinions, and that an activist minority is willing to shut down speech it opposes. In this environment, public policy debates were almost entirely absent on North Carolina campuses and where policy-related forums were present, there seems to be no consistent effort to invite panelists with different viewpoints. There are some exceptions, but most North Carolina campuses seem inhospitable locations for policy discourse open to all undergraduates. As concluded in this report, it does not seem likely on most campuses that the energy for creating frequent and responsible civil discourse about controversial public policy issues exists. That stimulus may have to come from legislators for public institutions and governing boards for both private and public campuses. As is often the case, that initiative may require some funding and regular reporting about campus policy events. [Funding for this report was provided by the John William Pope Foundation.] (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. 353 East Six Forks Road Suite 200, Raleigh, NC 27609. Tel: 919-828-1400; Fax: 919-828-7455; Web site: https://www.jamesgmartin.center/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01