Tensions over students' accusations of harassment by allegedly anti-Semitic professors at Columbia University intensified so greatly in recent weeks that a group of students began to call for Columbia President Lee Bollinger's resignation.
Jewish pro-Israel students at Columbia claimed that they were being harassed and intimidated by pro-Palestine professors both in and outside of the classroom. A committee composed of Columbia faculty "found no evidence of any statements made by the faculty that could reasonably be construed as anti-Semitic," and "no evidence that students had been penalized for their views by receiving lower grades," according to a report released last week.
The complaints of the pro-Israel students at Columbia and Barnard parallel some sentiments expressed by conservative students at Dartmouth, though it does not seem likely the situation at the College will reach the level of the Columbia controversy.
College Republicans president Matthew Alexander '06 expressed some discontent with the overwhelmingly liberal faculty at the College and said that he has encountered negative reactions to his conservative views.
"There was one time in a theater class when I played a character who I thought was a Republican. I tried to incorporate that political view, and I got some resistance from my professor about it," he said.
Alexander also cited times when he and fellow conservatives have abstained from certain class discussions. "They hold their tongues because, you know, it influences your grade. Starting a political debate with a professor rarely ends well, in my opinion," he said.
Amanda Morris '06, also a member of the College Republicans, doubts professors' abilities to be completely unbiased when it comes to subjective grading.
"I can argue with someone who is more liberal than I am, and respect where they're coming from, but at the end of the day I still think that they're wrong. That's a problem that a professor faces. To overcome that bias in grading, I imagine it must be hard...but I still think it's part of the job description, so it's certainly a problem."
Still, both Alexander and Morris said that they probably would not make formal complaints to the College about their experiences with liberal professors.
Native American Studies chair Colin Calloway said that although the department is "pretty liberal," he does not know of a student who has contested a grade for political reasons. And while Calloway conceded that some students might feel hesitant to participate in class discussions due to political beliefs, he does not believe discussions are often hindered for that reason.
"There are all kinds of places in which people might feel a little uncomfortable," he said. "I think that's part of our job in this program, trying to create an atmosphere in our classes where [students] can say what they have to say and that doesn't mean that we necessarily agree with them."