Can students express themselves politically in class?

Sophomore Sam Spahn remembers engaging in a class discussion where a professor began criticizing a specific party for slandering the other party during an election. The students in his class, however, instantly challenged the professor in defense of both parties."That professor immediately backed down, and actually, I believe she was kind of scared because her mouth got her in trouble," Spahn said.

Spahn, who is president of College Republicans, said he is firm in his political beliefs. However, he said he expects that professors keep their own political bias out of their lectures and class discussions.

Spahn said he thinks the political beliefs of faculty dramatically influence the classroom because it affects the way students understand the material.

"If you see a teacher come out and say what political opinion they are in a political class, it kind of hits you a little bit, and it's just natural, in my opinion, to see them in a different light," Spahn said.

Like Spahn, junior David Dietz, president of College Democrats, said he believes that political leaning should not affect the way information in the classroom is presented. However, Dietz said he does not think this is a problem at DePauw.

"I do not think ever - a single time, - that a professor has used their political opinion or persuasion to push the discussion in a certain direction or refute someone else's ideas or anything," Dietz said.

He also said he has had some uncomfortable situations discussing politics with students in the classroom, but that they have been the best discussions for challenging the students' beliefs.

"I have definitely been in some heated classroom conversations, but it is never personal. That's the thing - it's always about the ideas," Dietz said.

Political science professor Maryann Gallagher said she tries to keep her own political opinions out of the classroom.

"I try to facilitate non-partisan discussion because students are so bombarded with partisanship in the media, it's helpful to at least try to have non-partisan discussion," Gallagher said.

However, Gallagher said she realizes it is nearly impossible avoid including her political leaning in her classes.

"It's really difficult because we don't have a good strategy. Just picking discussion topics imply my own political bias," she said. "I'm aware that my own interests come in topics."

According to her obserervations of discussions and writing assignments in class, Gallagher said she believes that the majority of DePauw students are Republicans.

"I think, generally, students at DePauw are right of center, but that may just be my background coming from New York, Atlanta and Emory [University], which are all left of center," she said.

Five years ago, Dave Bohmer, director of the Media Fellows Program, faculty adviser for College Democrats and Putnam County Chairman of the Democratic Party, would have agreed with Gallagher, as he too thought that the student body was more Republican. Now, however, Bohmer said he thinks most students would declare themselves as a Democrat or Independent.

"I think students, to a large degree, reflect the trends of the times," Bohmer said. "I think DePauw's tendency is to be somewhat conservative, but I think that the variety of problems from financial markets to Iraq to Afghanistan to the images this country has of the world were all factors that came into play and had a major impact on younger voters. I think that [Barack] Obama, at least during the campaign, and I think as president, has conveyed an idealism and an ability to communicate," he said.

While the international politics classes that professor Sunil Sahu teaches do not focus on American liberal and conservative politics, he said he expects students to understand the material and clearly express their opinions.

"I would like them to express a different opinion," Sahu said. "Because critical thinking is what we try to encourage in our students."

Nevertheless, freshman Natasha Oliver said she is uncomfortable disagreeing with a DePauw proessor.

"I would never be comfortable standing up to a professor's opinion against my own, especially this early in my DePauw career," Oliver said.



- Macy Ayers contributed to this story.