<p>In the new issue of USNWR College Rankings there is an advertisement by FIRE: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. It lists 5 schools on the "RED ALERT" meaning these schools represent the worst of the worst for individual freedom of thought. I am not suggesting I agree with the list, only that it exists. The schools are:</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins
Brandeis
Tufts
Michigan State
Colorado College</p>
<p>All of these schools are liberal schools. Thus, if you are conservative at those schools, you might be an endangered species or even worse.</p>
<p>Way better than going to a Catholic school where you’ll get doctrine stuffed down your throat </p>
<p>What’s your agenda? You seem to say you don’t care about rankings but all you have to say is to put other schools down. Your posts are pathetic. It’s even worse than some of the ■■■■■■ because at least the other ■■■■■■ are funny.</p>
<p>Say that to the more than 30,000 applicants that applied for admission-more than Harvard and certianly more than Fordham. I’m sure you know something all these Stanford applicants didn’t? It’s really the Catholic think tank part that makes Fordham problematic. Religious indoctrination should not be present in a liberal arts university. Not a real university by my standards. How many nobelists, national academy of science, national academy of engineering have they been able to attract to Fordham?</p>
<p>Dont call a school a third tiet toilet. there are plenty of students who go there that will take a great offence to reading someone making fun of the school they go to and are proud to go to.</p>
<p>The Students that go to any prestigious university think they have bragging rights. </p>
<p>Then again anyone that criticizes a highly prestigious university, but has nothing to show for it (The college they attend) will be bashed. Ghost Buster criticized Stanford therefore Morsmordre is criticizing his school(Fordham), his motives, etc.</p>
<p>How did Fordham get dragged into this mess?</p>
<p>I don’t understand how one can draw the conclusion that a university’s Catholic affiliation–in this case, Jesuit (which makes a world of difference)–implies that the institution “indoctrinates” its students.</p>
<p>Unless you can substantiate your insulting and ignorant accusation with evidence, I would advise you refrain from ■■■■■■■■. ■■■■■■■■ is an art and you are despoiling it.</p>
<p>This is what liberals do. Instead of debating the point they change the topic. This week when Barney Frank was challenged about wasting our money at a town hall meeting he responded by bringing up the war in Iraq.</p>
<p>And they start insulting anyone on the other side. Google “Alinsky #12” if you get a chance. And religious bigotry is not beneath them. Sure, why not criticize Catholics while you’re at it?</p>
<p>David Horowitz is a true hero. Needless to say he’s had countless death threats from peopole who are incapable of debating with him. I think his organization FIRE does great work. I wish they had enough resources to issue a report on freedom of speech at every campus yearly and expose every closed-minded idiotic tenured professor in the world.</p>
<p>Phead, that may well be true. It was in fact an advertisement…but I also know the editors select certain advertisements. Though I support what FIRE is doing, because freedom of thought, association and expression are paramount precepts of a collegial environment at any college. Whether the list is accurate or not I have no idea, and people can take that up with FIRE. (I am not a member of FIRE, nor do I work for USNWR, nor do I attend any of the schools listed there.)</p>
<p>Its really interesting the responses I got, isnt it? Amazing.</p>
<p>Choklit: Really? Did Penn profs create FIRE? If so, I applaud them. Bravo!</p>
<p>Regardless of any student’s or faculty’s personal beliefs, be they political, social, or whatever, a person is entitled to freedom of expression, association and thought without fear of reprisals on a college campus. Are there limits? Yes. But remember the commentary that Columbia University got when it invited Ahmadinejad to speak there last year? And Notre Dame got when it invited Barack Obama to speak at commencement this year? </p>
<p>Fordham is only 60 percent Roman Catholic in its student body. They employ a number of non Catholic faculty, including many DISTINGUISHED Jewish, Protestant and Orthodox scholars.</p>
<p>You realized that many of the top NE private schools were religiously affiliated (including all but one of the Ivy League), right? You realized that Brandeis and Yeshiva are Jewish, right? You realize that Notre Dame and Georgetown are Catholic, right? You realize that many college mottoes reference God, right? The liberal arts have gone hand in hand with religion for hundreds of years, dating back as far as the University of Paris, and you have no right to demean any school that still has religious affiliation. I’m calling you out on this as an Atheist, btw.</p>
<p>Hundreds of years ago is not today. Slavery has gone hand in hand with America’s legal system for hundreds of years. Doesn’t mean it’s legal now. Harvard of 1750 would not be considered a school of repute today. Indeed, Harvard was known as “godless” since before this country was officially founded leading to the creation of Yale. Also, Brandeis is not religiously affiliated at all today, it just has a lot of Jewish students. There’s a reason why the higher rungs of academia scorn most Catholic and other religiously based schools. Religion has no part in a real university worthy of scholarly recognition, I realize that and so does elite academia. You’ll even realize that the most prestigious “religious” school is Georgetown. Wonder why that is?</p>
<p>"Way better than going to a Catholic school where you’ll get doctrine stuffed down your throat "</p>
<p>Or an Ivy league school where the same thing happens (replae doctrine with socialism, facisim or communism) and 90+% of the faculty self describe themselves as “liberal”</p>
<p>Seems to me, Harvard should be on the list. Didn’t a ecent president gfet fured for saying:</p>
<p>" innate differences between men and women MIGHT be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers."</p>
<p>“Summers said he was only putting forward hypotheses based on the scholarly work assembled for the conference, not expressing his own judgments – in fact, he said, more research needs to be done on these issues. The organizer of the conference at the National Bureau of Economic Research said Summers was asked to be provocative, and that he was invited as a top economist, not as a Harvard official.”</p>
<p>All Summers did was present a theory and invite debate. If the theory was bunk, then open and honest debate would have crushed it.</p>
<p>Summers was “forced to resign” for trying to open debate pertaining to something not politically correct.</p>
<p>Not including Harvard on this list was a serious “overlook” in my opinion.</p>
<p>College should be a place for open ideas and debete, wheher the subject is religion, politics of ALL kind, gender or black majic. Stifiling this debare in any manner is just wrong.</p>
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