The University of North Carolina (UNC) has a lot of professors. The University of North Carolina has a lot of professors who identify themselves as Democrats. In fact, Democrat professors outnumber Republican professors at the school 12:1. This is something that bothers Republican Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger. When Phil Berger isn’t running around making up bold-faced lies about the Affordable Care Act, he’s saying other stupid shit. There’s a new environmental policy initiative at UNC-Chapel Hill. It’s been created by the legislature. The problem is that people like state Sen. Phil Berger seem to want to put Republicanny-type folk into the UNC program. This has prompted criticism from scientists and environmentalists, saying state Sen. Berger and his ilk are trying to put political pressure on the study of science.
His science adviser, Jeff Warren, is rumored to be in line to lead the UNC entity, which has prompted scorn from opponents. Without mentioning Warren by name, Berger said any member of his staff who applied for a university job would have his “strong support and recommendation.”
“I have received numerous complaints about the existing philosophical and partisan homogeneity at UNC, where professors registered as Democrats outnumber Republicans by a ratio of roughly 12 to one,” Berger’s email said. “On several occasions I have recommended highly-qualified conservative candidates for positions at UNC and within the university system, and, to my knowledge, none have been hired to date.”
So state Sen. Berger accuses the school of discriminating against Republicans in their hiring policies. William Snider is the founding director and a professor in the Department of Neurology at UNC. He decided to write an op-ed concerning state Sen. Berger’s comments.
In 17 years of experience with hiring faculty at the School of Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill, I have never heard political affiliation mentioned in any job search. There is certainly no place for information about it on the application form. I have never heard any member of a search committee ask a candidate about political preference, and I have never heard of it coming up in any of the many interviews that job candidates go through. I have never heard party affiliation or political leaning raised in the final committee deliberations that determine which candidate is selected.
Of course, that’s all good and well to say, but the ratio 12:1, Democrat versus Republican, is pretty one-sided.
One reason is the anti-science attitude adopted by many rank and file Republicans and supported by some Republican leaders. For example, a Pew Research Survey in 2013 found that only 43 percent of Republicans believe that humans have evolved over time. During the recent Republican primary season, only Jeb Bush could be found to have ever made a statement expressing belief in the theory of evolution. Several of the candidates were on record stating that they did not accept evolutionary theory.
How should scientists react to this? The theory of evolution is the central organizing principle of modern biology. If Republican leaders don’t believe it is true, how can scientists support them? Further, public funds in NC are directed at “voucher” schools that teach that the theory of evolution is false. How can we join the party that apportions funds in this way?
Testify!
The life of the university depends on rational discourse. If people want to debate women’s reproductive issues or the integrity of elections, interested university faculty in the relevant areas would welcome these discussions. But how should we react when partisan legislation on these issues is justified by catch phrases like “protecting women’s health” and “massive voter fraud” and passed without any serious discussion? In several recent cases, the courts have found that the stated rationales for the partisan legislation in these areas were fictitious. Of course, the faculty are of the opinion that issues should be debated on merits rather than on rationale manufactured to appeal to a political base.
Hey state Sen. Berger, don’t bring your non-evolved brain to an intelligence fight.