This letter is a response to Nick Ennis' letter to the editor, "Professors should leave bias at classroom door," Jan. 20, as well as Elizabeth Lee's reaction, "Not all PSU professors allow political biases in classroom," Jan. 23. Ennis' initial letter advocated that professors should not let their "politics" enter the college classroom. In her response, Lee did not reject Ennis' basic premise but instead simply made the point that not all professors at Penn State are guilty of Ennis' charge. In contrast, I would argue that the basic assumption that politics and value-free knowledge can be separated so easily is highly problematic. As activist-historian Howard Zinn once said, "You can't be neutral on a moving train." Historically, the fact/value distinction has been used as a means of reaffirming the status quo and suppressing intellectual dissent in the academy.

When a professor is preparing to teach a course, the material he or she chooses to include or exclude, as well as the way in which such topics are "framed" involves political judgment. Sure, professors should not dogmatically impose their views upon students. But to maintain that they are not allowed to be politically provocative in class is a dangerous move toward restricting the freedom of expression in higher education. Indeed, why not use the college classroom as a "forum" for a critical debate over the key political issues of our times?