In recent years it has become commonplace for some students to complain that school officials, professors or TAs are somehow ideologically biased. There have been grievances from across the country of grades lowered based upon a professor’s disagreement with a student’s conclusion. Students have complained that they feel as though they are unable to voice their opinion on certain matters due to a fear of chastisement from those with authority in the classroom.

However, by and large, the University of Wisconsin has not had any major issues of this type. For the most part, students of any political or philosophical leanings are free to voice their opinions through their work and their conduct in class with confidence that their grades and overall performance in the course will not be negatively affected simply due to a disagreement of interpretations. Nevertheless, it would be willful ignorance to claim that professors do not have their own opinions. One would have to be blind to say that TAs have no beliefs of their own. Most reasonable people understand this, so it hasn’t become an issue. At the same time, students need to be constantly reassured that their views will not become justifications for vilification in the lecture hall. Thus, actions that would lend credence to a claim of academic unfairness must be opposed.

Recently, the Political Action Committee of the Teaching Assistants’ Association helped to pay for six students to travel to New York City to protest the Republican National Convention. Now, according to the TAA’s website, the bylaws of the PAC do not allow it to directly give money to candidates and campaigns. There has been no violation of their own, self-imposed rules. Moreover, even if they had given money directly to a campaign, it would seem obvious that there is no illegality whatsoever. The TAA-PAC by its very nature involves itself in the world of politics, and this is perfectly acceptable. And it is perfectly all right for the TAA-PAC to offer to pay their way to the big apple.

If a TA wanted to protest at the RNC, I would have no problem. If a professor wanted to protest at the RNC, I would have no problem. If Chancellor Wiley wanted to protest at the RNC, I would have no problem, although others might. My complaint lies elsewhere, but has nothing to do with the fact that some TAs may desire to protest Republicans in New York.

The problem is this: TAs and professors here in Madison have an obligation not just to treat students fairly, but also to appear as the fair arbiters of grades that are based on performance, not ideological assent. While the TAA-PAC has every legal right to essentially sponsor six teaching assistants to protest, this only helps to lead students to believe that their TAs may be hostile to their beliefs, and subsequently negatively affect their grades.

Imagine an unlikely but analogous scenario where the TAA-PAC paid for six students to protest in Boston at the Democratic National Convention along with many pro-life activists. Would there have been uproar over this? The likely student reaction to such an act would be tremendous. It would have been perfectly within the TAA-PAC’s powers and rights to do so, but the pressure against such action would have been incredible.

The bottom line is that this is not a question of the capacity of the TAA and its political committee to pay for such activities. It is a question as to what kind of a message this sort of implied political sponsorship of certain views, particular candidates, and what became at times violent protest sends to the students of our great university. Does the fact that our TAs’ union and political arm is sending members to protest against the renomination of the president of the United States by the Republicans comfort those who may harbor fears of academic intolerance? What kind of message does the TAA really want to send to the students taught by its members, one of ideological independence, or one of ideological bias? The professors and TAs of this school have a responsibility to maintain a free marketplace of ideas here on campus. They also have a responsibility to their own beliefs to stand up for what they believe in, and this ought not be forgotten. Nevertheless, a balance must be reached between the personal desires of individual TAs to legally protest those whom they feel deserve it, and the materiality of our free speech on campus. The TAA-PAC was wrong to help pay for TAs to protest the RNC, for it does not work toward those ends. Instead, it only serves to further the gap between those who may have dissenting points of view from those with authority over their grades, creating a subtle fear and distrust.

Academia can do better. But is hope on the way?

Zachary Stern ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.