You would think a college campus would be a place where people could feel safe from discrimination.Recent studies indicate otherwise.
According to a survey conducted by the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, 30 percent of student respondents said they had been discriminated against because they didn’t fit expectations for masculinity and femininity. In addition, 25 percent of students of color reported being discriminated against, as well.
How can students be expected to learn in an environment that they can’t feel comfortable in?
Couldn’t their schools find better ways to protect them and the quality of their learning atmosphere?
An index published by GenderPAC this year has shown that progress has been made.
The index found that nearly 150 colleges and universities have expanded their non-discrimination policies to allow students to have more gender identity and expression.
Two-thirds of the nation’s top 25 universities, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report, have enacted specific policies to battle this discrimination.
Schools are making progress with race and gender equality, but what about political equality on college campuses?
While there aren’t really any statistics to enforce it, most conservatives have claimed that colleges are more liberal than any other place, and that they preach liberalism to their students.
David Horowitz, a conservative writer and activist, went so far as to compose an Academic Bill of Rights urging colleges to encourage a diversity of political and religious viewpoints.
Horowitz founded Students for Academic Freedom last summer to promote the issue, and today the group has members on 130 campuses.
Several states have even adopted the bill in their state governments, although his critics wonder if the bill’s supporters view the alleged liberal teaching as a real problem or not.
Still, steps are being taken to correct the problem and ensure equality on campuses.
Let’s hope that leads to a better learning environment for students.
Nathan Bass is a junior news-editorial journalism major from Tomball.
