Conservative David Horowitz and academic freedom

LAKEVILLE — In watching David Horowitz’s transformation from lefty radical, confidant of Huey Newton and the son of communists, all the way to conservative Republican, I have always marveled at how deeply the hard-left despises him — more so than they do most right-wingers.

I suppose it’s because he is seen as a turncoat — someone who used to be one of them, but has peered through the fog and rejected heroes of the left such as historian and social critic Howard Zinn, whom Horowitz condemned last week as “a Stalinist fraud.â€

Once Nancy Johnson country, the Northwest Corner is now solidly blue. Still, about 75 people turned out to see Horowitz at the Elfers music hall at The Hotchkiss School last week. Before he began, Horowitz worked the room, introducing himself to everyone there.

The appearance was sponsored by the Hotchkiss Republicans and Young America’s Foundation, a conservative young people’s organization Horowitz has supported for years.

Horowitz, a nationally known author and activist who appears regularly as a guest on cable news shows, has long been a champion of academic freedom and has lamented the extent to which, he says,  academia has been dominated by the left, especially on college campuses, but also in settings such as Hotchkiss.

In her introduction, Natalie Boyse, a junior at the school and a member of the Hotchkiss Republicans, lionized Horowitz.

“You are an inspiration to all of us who cherish academic freedom,†Natalie said.

Rather than pontificate from the lectern, Horowitz got ahold of a wireless microphone and walked back and forth on the stage, delivering a 50-minute talk on academic freedom, which he emphasized again and again, is not the same thing as freedom of speech.

“When I was in college and graduate school I never once heard an instructor make a political statement, never tried to persuade the class of a political point,†Horowitz, 69, said to the audience, some of whom were visibly nodding their heads in approval. “They were professional teachers. Today at least 10 percent are political activists rather than scholars.â€

Horowitz, who is the author of an Academic Bill of Rights, recalled the story of a student who told him his French professor at Penn State took up class time with a showing of “Sicko,†Michael Moore’s indictment of the U.S. healthcare system. Horowitz likened it to going “to your doctor and getting a lecture on Iraq.â€

 â€œIf people are allowed to use their classrooms as political soapboxes,†Horowitz said, “then they’re destroying the mission of the institution.â€

Horowitz responded to questions and then the event adjourned to a small reception out in the hall.

I must admit I had half expected some mild protests, since Horowitz has attracted his share of them in the past. Students have in the past tried to shout Horowitz down and prevent his voice from being heard. He’s even been the victim of a pie throwing.

But I felt proud to be at that lecture and reassured that, although I’m sure many on the Hotchkiss campus can’t stand him, Horowitz was allowed to be heard, just as his detractors are. And there were no pies... what a country and what a school!

This  commentary was adapted from the writer’s weblog at tcextra.com.