Students Push Georgetown Toward Ideological Diversity

The editorial board of the Georgetown student paper is pushing the university to adopt ideological diversity by acquiring a few conservative teachers. In September, the board of The Hoya ran this statement in their September editorial:

“One of the hallmarks of higher education is the opportunity to understand and grapple with a wide range of ideas. Yet, Georgetown falls short on its commitment to this ideological diversity in the makeup of its instructional corps. The university must work to remedy its lack of politically conservative professors by considering a diversity of viewpoints when hiring instructors, from assistant professors to those with tenure, and by ensuring that no bias exists against conservative educators in the hiring process.”

The editorial referred to a March 2016 op-ed in The Wall St. Journal by John Hasnas — a professor at the McDonough School of Business at the Georgetown University Law Center. It said faculty search committees were never instructed to increase political or ideological diversity but were in fact often told the opposite. Hasnas described episodes in which a job description was altered to mitigate the number of conservative applicants and candidates were removed from consideration due to their affiliations with libertarian or conservative institutions.

The Student editorial said, “A robust exchange of ideas requires students and faculty to have the greatest possible variety of backgrounds, to expose ourselves to myriad viewpoints. Only by having our views challenged can we refine our own stances, learn how best to justify our arguments and hone our critical thinking abilities.”