College Educators Should Oppose Wesselhoft Bill

A bill tied to a right-wing movement attacking college professors has been introduced in the Oklahoma Legislature by state Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, a Republican from Moore.

Wesselhoft’s House Bill 2600, disingenuously named the Higher Education Sunshine Act, has drawn opposition so far from the Oklahoma Conference of the American Association of University Professors and members of Oklahomans For Excellence in Science Education. Here is where you can find the text of the bill. (Type in “2600” under 2007-2008 House Measures.)

The bill is similar to legislation that has been proposed in other states as part of the Academic Bill of Rights movement championed by archconservative David Horowitz, who published the book, The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics In America. The bill would require all Oklahoma universities to prepare annual reports showing how they support intellectual diversity on their campuses.

The bill may seem innocuous on the surface, but it is difficult ultimately not to view it as an attack on public higher education in Oklahoma. Wesselhoft, pictured right, a retired Army chaplain and ordained Southern Baptist Minister, has not publicly pointed to any existing problems with diversity issues on Oklahoma colleges as far as I know. Thus, the bill seems to be simply part of a national, discredited cause that has absolutely no relevance in Oklahoma. Wesselhoft's legislative profile also says he is State Coordinator of Oklahoma Abstinence Sex Education for Teens, Oklahoma State Health Department.

Here are three reasons why the bill should be opposed:

(1) It could cost universities staggering amounts of money to prepare the reports each year. This would just add another senseless, bureaucratic mandate that would once again increase college tuition, which has been skyrocketing in Oklahoma in recent years.

(2) The bill has the potential to influence course content. Everyone knows this is a right-wing initiative so some professors, especially those in the sciences and medicine, may well become too intimidated to teach evolution theory or anything related to the scientific method at certain universities. Other professors may well feel too intimidated to express mainstream political positions or teach any political or world historical content that might cast progressive political ideas in a good light. The bill could limit intellectual arguments in classroom discussions. This will trickle down to high school classrooms.

(3) There is simply no point to the bill. Oklahoma universities have a wide cross section of professors with differing political, lifestyle and religious views. Students have appeal rights on each campus if they feel they have been mistreated or graded lowered because of their religious or political views. Students also consistently evaluate instructors. The system is not broken. If anything, universities should find ways to eliminate paperwork, not create more of it.

Everyone in Oklahoma higher education should oppose the bill. You can reach Wesselhoft at paulwesselhoft@okhouse.gov.