Columbia University: Ideological Litmus Tests at Teachers College
FIRE criticized the Teachers College at Columbia University for requiring students to demonstrate a "commitment to social justice," a vague and politically loaded concept. Teachers College employs "dispositions," which it defines as "observable behaviors that fall within the law and involve the use of certain skills," to evaluate students. These dispositions, "expected of Teachers College candidates and graduates" and "assessed at each transition point," include "Respect for Diversity and Commitment to Social Justice." Evaluating students according to their commitment to this official ideal is a stark violation of a student's right to decide for him or herself what is and is not socially just. Teachers College President Susan Fuhrman told FIRE that the policy would be reevaluated, but there has been no change in this illiberal policy.
"FIRE in ‘The New York Times’ on Free Speech at Columbia," October 23, 2006: Columbia University’s recent struggles with free speech were covered in the pages of The New York Times on Sunday, with an article concentrating on questions about Columbia President Lee Bollinger’s commitment to free speech on campus. In the article, FIRE President Greg Lukianoff points out that while Bollinger’s public statements endorse free speech, questions remain as to whether Bollinger can “walk the walk” when it comes to issues of free expression on campus. FIRE is continuing its efforts to ensure that Columbia lives up to Bollinger’s promises of freedom of thought and expression with a follow-up letter sent to the university last week asking, once again, that Columbia’s Teachers College change evaluation standards that amount to a political litmus test for education graduate students.
"Columbia University Ignores Objections to Thought Reform Amid Free Speech Controversy," FIRE Press Release, October 10, 2006: FIRE is calling on Teachers College—Columbia University’s graduate school of education—to abandon its ideological litmus tests for students. These policies are manifestly inconsistent with Teachers College’s written promises of free speech and academic freedom as well as with Columbia President Lee Bollinger’s recent statements on the importance of free expression at Columbia University.
"Silence From Teachers College," William Creeley, April 16, 2008: Nearly a year after Teachers College President Susan Fuhrman indicated to FIRE that changes in the school's use of "dispositions" were forthcoming, the silence from Teachers College remains deafening. To our great disappointment, FIRE has, as of yet, received no response to our most recent letter to Teachers College and its Board of Trustees. In the letter, sent March 12, 2008, FIRE asked, yet again, that the school cease its current practice of evaluating students according to their adherence to a predetermined institutional ideology. Teachers College's continuing refusal to eliminate its reliance on "dispositions" as evaluative criteria means that Teachers College students remain in effect, subject to an ideological litmus test as a condition of matriculation, despite the school's public commitments to free expression and academic freedom.
"University policy draws fire from free-speech advocates," Eliana Johnson, The New York Sun, October 12, 2006: Columbia University's Teachers College is being criticized by free-speech advocates, who are charging that the school's "Conceptual Framework," the document that shapes curricula and guides instruction and student assessment, amounts to an ideological litmus test.
