Ideological Diversity: A Different Perspective

In his recent column dismissing “ideological diversity,” Gabriel Arana grad pulled a straw man, reducing the idea as an attempt to stack the biology department with Creationists, to ensure the history department has at least one fascist sympathizer and to recruit students based on ideology. In a column from David Wittenberg ’09 that appeared last school year, Wittenberg was skeptical of conservative students’ desire for greater ideological diversity on campus. But rather than providing an example of intellectual diversity gone wrong within Cornell, Wittenberg resorted to name-calling and baseless stereotypes, writing, “The Cornell Republicans are the party of Ann ‘John Edwards is a faggot’ Coulter ’84.” These columns themselves misinterpret what ideological diversity really means. Ironically, these columnists’ lack of understanding for a viewpoint different than their own shows precisely why Cornell should promote ideological diversity.