Although I have had many productive and equitable discussions in Dartmouth classrooms, I frequently find myself reflecting on a particularly strange interaction I recently experienced. During this class, the professor interrupted our scheduled lesson to ask for our opinions on an unrelated political question regarding the Israel-Hamas war. When people tentatively shared their perspectives, the professor responded tensely with dissenting views. As the course progressed, it became apparent that the group of students who did not agree with the professor’s own opinions were received less favorably in class discussions.
I have since concluded that when professors vocalize their political beliefs in the classroom setting, it often has negative consequences. I believe that professors should refrain from openly asserting their political opinions to students while class is in session, even while holding tenured positions.
My stance on this particular issue is independent of my personal political affiliation. Even when professors validate my own opinions with their perspectives, I still find the fundamental practice of professors sharing political stances troubling.
To comprehend the problem with this behavior, it is critical to examine it within the context of Dartmouth’s mission. According to Dartmouth’s website, the school’s core values include “promot[ing] the vigorous and open debate of ideas while encouraging mutual respect for diverse opinions.” This same source characterizes the ideal faculty-student relationship as one of “integrity” and “collaboration.” When professors freely state their political beliefs or biases in class, I believe that these values disappear from the fore, due to the power differential that exists between professors and students.
While I understand that some people might misconstrue my perspective as hindering professors’ freedom of expression, I argue the opposite. I believe that freedom of speech can only authentically be free when it is not subject to the effects of a power imbalance.
Since professors dictate grades — and grades dictate future career opportunities — there can be significant incentive for students to cater to professorial opinions, even when it compromises the integrity of students’ beliefs.
When a hierarchy is observed — such as the one between students and teachers — those in positions of power can homogenize classroom conversation. This dynamic is particularly problematic within institutions that place a premium on free discourse and jeopardizes Dartmouth’s core value of “encouraging independent thought.”
Beyond encouraging conformism, there are other deleterious outcomes to professors opining their personal political beliefs in the classroom. As a result of the power differential and the acclaimed quality of Dartmouth’s faculty, students may place excessive confidence in the verity of their professors’ statements.
As my Dartmouth statistics and philosophy classes have taught me, a single source — no matter how reputable — is insufficient evidence from which to draw conclusions. It remains the responsibility of students to fact-check their professors. However, while serving as students’ primary mode of access to information, professors should be held more accountable to provide objectivity than, for example, individual internet sources.
Considering this issue, I feel it is still important to qualify my statement by acknowledging that some professors may be more equipped to share their political opinions than others. For instance, government professors with PhDs in the politics of a specific region in question would have more credibility sharing their take than a professor teaching biomedical engineering. In fact, I would even argue that professors with the relevant specialization have an obligation to share the wealth of their knowledge with their students.
However, there is still a large difference between presenting verifiable facts — from which students can draw their own conclusions — and presenting one’s own interpretation of such facts. The former is acceptable; the latter is more ethically murky.
I do not expect professors to completely absent themselves from political discourse or to be devoid of biases. This, of course, would be unnatural and unattainable. Instead, I ask that they seriously consider their responsibilities as messengers of objective fact, and accordingly provide information in a truly equitable and impartial manner in a classroom setting.
Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
