by James A. Bacon
Last week I highlighted an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that gave voice to fears by lefty George Mason University professors about the newly constituted Board of Visitors. Six board members appointed by Governor Glenn Youngkin, the profs fretted, had ties to the conservative Heritage Foundation and might do all sorts of awful things, such as interfere with the tenure-granting process and dismantle the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion apparatus.
One of the professors interviewed, Bryan Caplan, was not quoted in the article. Caplan, whose work is informed by public choice theory, describes himself as an economic libertarian.
In his Bet on It Substack account, Caplan has republished the written Q&A he engaged in with the Chronicle reporter. Anyone interested in GMU should read the post.
Some excerpts:
Q: Do you think faculty should be worried by a Heritage presence on the board?
A: The correct story, in my view, is that far-left faculty feel “threatened” by anything short of 100% control of the university. And all of the allegedly horrible views you list are, at minimum, worthy of calm discussion.
Q: Last Fall, GMU’s board requested the full tenure files of the proposed faculty for review, greatly expanding their level of oversight in tenure decisions. … Some faculty advocates objected to that, saying it was an overreach into tenure decisions by unqualified, politically-appointed Visitors. Do you agree?
A. I served on the oversight committee for Tenure and Promotion for many years, so I can say with confidence that this is more paranoia on the part of the “advocates.” The real story is that GMU’s standards for tenure, especially in politicized departments in the humanities and social sciences, are sadly low.
Q. Faculty advocates also expressed concern over the board’s intention to eliminate the proposed Just Societies requirement. Has your department discussed that proposal?
A. I think the Just Societies requirement is terrible. As I’ve explained at length, it really does amount to forcing all GMU students to endure two courses of far-left brainwashing. All the claims about wanting a “conversation” or “dialogue” are empty promises the promoters have no intention of fulfilling.
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