University of Iowa Accused of Discrimination Against Students
By Gary Schneider (02/09/06)
Iowa City, IA /February 8, 2006/ - University of Iowa, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine students and family members are speaking out against the school's faculty and administration officials, charging a pattern of intimidation and personal attacks against conservative and religious students who attend school there. Those making the charges contend that an aggressive and hostile environment has been created that restricts the free flow of ideas and is inappropriate for an
institution that purports to be dedicated to diversity.
According to sources, Professors at the University regularly and openly deride students who do not share their political or social beliefs. In a number of instances, professors' openly ridiculed religion in general and Christian based faiths in particular. Students also cite the appearance of anti - (President) Bush cartoons and slogans being flashed on the projector screen before class, frequent and regular anti - (Bush) administration comments during class and even tests containing
ideologically oriented questions on them with right and wrong answers. Because of this, students claim that they are afraid to express their views openly in class out of fear that they will face further humiliation and potentially other forms of retribution.
Students also point out that these incidents regularly occurred in medical, not political or social science classes.
Complaints made by students and family to the school's administration appear largely to have been dismissed; with one administration official actually suggesting to a concerned family member, that he should henceforth stay out of the matter all together.
This, however, may be changing.
The students' contention that this pattern of intimidation is representative of a University wide culture of hostility toward intellectual diversity, has caught the attention of the University of Iowa President.
The school is now planning a student led “discussion” between students, faculty and school officials that is intended to remedy the problem. However, concerns have been raised that such a forum does not go far enough and may merely be just a showcase intended to present an image of openness, while offering no promise of tangible change in the University's culture or protection of its students.
Nevertheless, this is viewed by many to be a positive step in that the University appears at least to be recognizing that a problem does indeed exist.
Whether or not this or other gestures will translate to a meaningful change, though, remains unclear. According to a spokesman for The Reality Check On Campus (www.oncampus.therealitycheck.org), an organization monitoring this situation closely: “A letter has been sent to senior officials at the University expressing concern about the regular pattern of viewpoint discrimination there, and we have yet to receive a response from any of them.”
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