Grading and politics

[Merlin]

That is no way to run a class/school/country.  College is supposed to be a time of growing and learning, not suppressing your thoughts so as not to offend.  It's a damn shame.

Obviously, that isn't a universal truth either. We can't make sweeping judgments against the entirety of academia based on the behavior of a small sample. Not that I think you are suggesting that.

I am sure there are plenty of unbiased college instructors out there as well. For example, my wife is a college professor. According to her, she comes across many cringeworthy papers (and political views are the least of reasons for this). If they meet the requirements of the assignment she doesn't let her personal biases influence how she scores papers, she follows the rubric based on the assignment. As she says, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, particularly in college. I'm sure she isn't the only one out there with this opinion.

However, I don't really think that it is that big of a deal in the long term. Yeah, it does suck when people come across unprofessional, biased professors (regardless of political or personal views), but my bet is that the opinion of one college professor isn't going to change anyone's mind about their beliefs anyway. Even the opinions of a few professors. I think college students are more resilient than that and are able to make their own decisions.