Teaching Is Not Propaganda

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Steven Smith's March 18 letter detailing his disappointment in the recent "Difficult Dialogues" occasion co-sponsored by the Bok Center, Radcliffe College and the Office of Race Relations points up a troubling but seldom remarked problem in our community.

Too many administrative officials, particularly those charged with duties relating to race and gender, seem not to understand the difference between education and propaganda. Eager to help the integration of newcomers into the community, they rely on the various advocacy groups to help organize and staff the affairs.

Seldom do programs consist of speakers pro and con; rather the occasions celebrate the politics of the organizers. Any in the audience bold enough to question the prevailing sentiments are hectored.

I trace the genesis of this problem to the "teach-ins" popularized during the Vietnam War. These quickly became simply anti-war rallies and, unfortunately, many of us on the faculty, dead set against the war, lent ourselves to the occasions without troubling to make explicit the difference between honest teaching and propaganda.

The consequence of this dereliction is that many no longer recognize the difference and think it quite appropriate for college authorities to propagandize for good causes. It is not. Reasoned discussion should prevail on a university campus.

It seems to me the responsibility of the academic deans to take steps to persuade their administrative colleagues that College-sponsored meetings and conferences on difficult issues should feature the kind of dialogue in which a university community can take pride. The truth will out, so honest discussion is wholly consistent with improving both race and gender relations. E.L. Pattullo