Grading and politics

[eriehiker]

Also, I think that people who are so offended about a failing grade on an assignment or a failing grade in a class are ridiculous. Does anyone care if a person fails a class or gets an F on a paper? In the grand list of bad things that can happen to a person, a failing grade in a class is very small. We have a long history of people who go to jail, get beaten and die for their political positions. Bad grades suck, but I could envision situations in which an F would ultimately get a person to just stop for one moment before saying something and think about it. A liberal who calls in to any of a thousand talk radio shows will be cut off in one second for saying something nice about Obamacare. A liberal who prays for equal gender roles at any of thousands of churches in America will get the cold shoulder from the congregation. Okay, so a professor who has spent an entire life getting paid next to nothing and finally lands a very rare job as a college professor gives a kid an F for being a pain in the ass in class. So what? Go get a job as a radio talk show host.

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One more thing. The idea that there is some monolithic educational establishment is ridiculous. I live very close to Hillsdale College in Michigan. Liberal students are likely just not to attend there because the college is very clearly a conservative college. My guess is that Democratic students there face the same challenges as Republicans at liberal colleges. Ultimately, the free market will decide if the education at these institutions is valuable. Harvard is a private institution. If someone gets an F there for a politically-laced paper and leaves, there is going to be anyone of a thousand kids who want that spot. The product that Harvard provides is valuable in the marketplace and so it continues to be a force in our democracy. Don't like the F? Start more colleges like Hillsdale and see if the market wants that.