One of the goals of a great university should be to expose students to a broad spectrum of ideas, while training and encouraging them to form their own opinions.
I was, therefore, disturbed to read the paid advertisement in the Jan. 23 edition of The Chronicle informing students that professors should not state their opinions about controversial matters in the classroom unless they are directly related to course curriculum, with particular reference to Iraq and President Bush.
Certainly, faculty members should be expected to behave ethically and not to bully students into sharing their beliefs, but there is a difference between stating an opinion and attempting to indoctrinate students. I would hate to see Duke lose sight of this difference and try to muzzle its very distinguished faculty. This ad warns students, "We should...not be assaulted by the political prejudices of professors when we pay them for an education." Yet if an education consists merely of unrelated facts and figures, then why promote interdisciplinary studies? And why encourage faculty-student interaction? Isn't it for students to get to know the faculty as people, and not just as purveyors of facts? I urge Duke to trust the ability of its students to evaluate opinions based on facts and not to stymie the free exchange of ideas both inside of outside the classroom.
Judy Moore
Staff, Auxiliary Services
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