Robert Jensen, listed in the David Horowitz book, “The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America,” spoke to students, faculty and members of the Dallas community at the Umphrey Lee Center Monday about his designation as a “dangerous” teacher. Jenson is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
“I’m not going to talk about his motivations. I’m going to talk about his claim at face value. He claims that left-leaning liberal faculty inappropriately politicize the classroom and that there is an ideological imbalance in the classroom,” Jensen said.
In his book, Horowitz describes Jensen as a professor “who rabidly hates the United States.” Jensen, a self-proclaimed leftist, said the evidence Horowitz used in his book was based on his performance outside of the classroom.
“If you look at the entry about me, it all concerns my writing and not what I say in the classroom,” he said. “The only reference to the classroom is a Web site entry from a conservative group on campus.”
Although his lecture, hosted by the Muslim Student Association, was titled “Blacklisted,” Jensen said that he does not feel like he is an outcast in the academic world.
“David Horowitz is not arguing to eliminate people with certain beliefs, but he is arguing that there needs to be a balance of opinion,” he said.
Jensen said he thinks higher education in public universities today is focused on career training instead of the exploration of new ideas. He also said institution administrators are responsible for policies and directions instead of the working journalists and academic professionals.
“If I could prove that a cook in a steakhouse is a radical vegan, that wouldn’t tell you anything about the restaurant because the cooks aren’t the ones who set the menu. It’s the management,” Jensen said.
Jensen also said there is a misconception of a liberal media in the United States.
“What’s called liberal, left or radical bears no resemblance to what’s considered left in the rest of the world,” he said. “The political spectrum in the United States has radically shifted to the right.”
Travis Wilson, a junior from the University of Texas at Dallas, came to listen to Jenson speak for a second time and said he agreed with most of what he had to say.
“He takes a critical look at politics, and he’s willing to present a complex view of the world,” he said. “That’s what I like to get out of political commentary. He’s willing to talk about problems on both sides.”
Other audience members didn’t share Wilson’s opinion.
Boris Palchik, who attended the lecture with his girlfriend who is an SMU student, strongly disagreed with Jenson’s opinions.
“I think professor Jenson’s absolutely delusional and presented an unrealistic and glorified view of the past,” Palchik said. “It’s the same principles that Al-Quaeda operates on. He created a false sense of history. I think he lives in a fake academia and doesn’t understand the whole world.”
