To: All University of Oregon faculty members and administration

Issued by the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity

White Paper: A plan to inform and rid the University of Oregon from religious biases against Evangelical Christians

Disclaimer: I created this writing sample for a class. The information is not meant to represent the organization described. It is for academic purposes only.

Introduction

Universities in a democratic society should be institutions where curious minds converge to inquire, pursue, and examine a marketplace of ideas from a variety of reasoned perspectives. The strengths of the University of Oregon have always resided in the superior quality of its faculty and institutional commitment to academic freedom and excellence. However, in recent years sociopolitical agendas have become more apparent in higher education classrooms.

The University of Oregon takes pride in having ethnic and religious diversities. However, a recent nation-wide survey released in 2007 by the Jewish Institute of Research and Community revealed shocking statistics saying that 53 percent of college professors report that they have unfavorable feelings towards Evangelical Christians. The Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED) thought it would be important to examine whether these national results reflected the faculty beliefs on this campus. Unfortunately, after doing extensive research on the biases against Evangelical Christians, the OIED found that many faculty members and students do believe that these biases exist. We found that the prejudices stem mostly from misconceptions and differing political views.

The goal of this white paper is to discuss why these biases and misconceptions exist, and to provide a positive outcome plan suggesting what the University of Oregon faculty members and administration should do to mitigate their biases, to efficiently communicate with all students, and to understand Evangelical Christian students and the contribution they make to the pluralistic college environment.

The national issue for Evangelical Christians

The OIED will begin this white paper by providing background information on the national survey that initially sparked the OIED’s interest in examining the results for the University of Oregon campus. The survey, “Religious Beliefs and Behavior of College Faculty,” by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research (IJCR) was originally aimed at investigating anti-Semitism among faculty members. The results turned out to be quite different than anticipated. Gary A. Tobin, president of the IJCR, surveyed professors at many colleges, public and private, secular and religious. He asked faculty members to rate their feelings towards various religious groups and how they felt about that entire group of people. The survey found that 53 percent of college professors had negative and unfavorable feelings towards Evangelical Christians, a 20 percent higher disapproval rating than the next least favorably regarded religious affiliation: Mormons. Another almost unanimous belief found among college professors is that Evangelical Christians should keep their religious beliefs out of American politics.

According to Tobin, after hearing reaction to his results, academic leaders attempted to rationalize their bias by trying to dismiss it. “I don’t think that if I’d uncovered bigotry or social dissonance about Latinos, women, blacks, or Jews, they would have had the same response,” Tobin told World magazine. From these measurements, Tobin concludes, “There is no question this is revealing bias and prejudice.”

The political and religious demographics in the United States vary significantly depending on the region. Fortunately, the national issue of academic biases far exceeds the relatively tolerant degree of prejudice at the University of Oregon.

Across the nation, about 33 percent of all people identify as Evangelical Christian, so it’s easy to see why this issue would be more pertinent in more conservative and religious regions of the United States compared to Oregon, where voters from the three largest cities, Portland, Eugene and Salem voted above 50 percent liberal in the 2004 Presidential election, according to the Bay Area Center for Voting Research.

The OIED feels it is important to introduce David Horowitz into this white paper because he is a conservative political activist who has spent much of his time combating political correctness in American universities, exposing “leftist chicanery—real and imagined—wherever it may exist.” He introduced the Academic Bill of Rights in 2003 to promote intellectual diversity, and founded the Students for Academic Freedom, an organization that fights for the right of conservative and religious students to be free from political harassment in university classrooms.

Horowitz’s Academic Bill of Rights has caused major concern for an academia which values academic freedom as a core value in higher education. The American Association of University Professors asserts the bill would destroy academic freedom and the independence of universities and faculties to make decisions free from the pressure of external bodies like legislators. The reason why the OIED chose to include this information is because many Evangelical Christians around the United States favor the bill because it would prevent them from possible grading discrimination due to their faith, as well as be provided with a grievance procedure.

Background information and the OIED’s take on the dilemma at the University of Oregon

Foremost, the OIED wants to give background information on the characteristic religious beliefs of Evangelical Christians as well as college professors so one can begin to see where these misunderstandings originate.

Who are Evangelical Christians?

The term "Evangelical" stems from the Greek word “evangelion,” which means the gospel or good news of Christ’s saving action in behalf of the community, according to the Associated Press Stylebook. An Evangelical Christian can broadly be defined as someone who believes in and is committed to spreading the gospel message that man can be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus. The word may be used to describe a position or movement as well. Evangelicals stress both doctrinal absolutes and vigorous efforts to win others over to their belief. The National Association of Evangelicals says it has 60 member denominations with 45,000 churches. An estimated 70 million Americans call themselves Evangelicals, which makes them a very potent force in American politics and society. Two-thirds of Evangelicals identify themselves as Republican. The characteristic political issues that Evangelical Christians identify with are support for pro-life, anti-abortion positions, opposition to gay marriage, freedom to pray in schools, and a Christian interpretation of the Founding Fathers establishment of the United States based on strict, biblical Christian principles.

Eugene and University of Oregon students and faculty: Religious and republican

The broader spectrum and Eugene

In the United States, 76.5 percent of people identify as Christians according to American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS). From 1990 to 2001 the number of classified Christians declined from 86 percent to 76 percent. As of 2000, Lane County had approximately 35,700 Evangelical Protestant congregational adherents, which include all full members, their children and others who regularly attend services, according to the Association of Religious Data Achieves (ARDA). In terms of political affiliation, a study done by Bill Harbaugh, a University of Oregon economics professor, 32 percent of Lane Country residents are registered as Republicans. With this information we can infer many of those people are religious because two-thirds of Republicans claim religion as a very important aspect of their life according to the survey by Tobin.

Students

The presence of Evangelicals on the University of Oregon campus is far less prominent. Since the University of Oregon doesn’t survey religious affiliation from applicants, it is hard to know just how many Evangelicals we have on campus. Joel Martin, a campus staff member of one of the Evangelical Christian organizations, InterVarsity, says that he has 40 very committed students. Mike Edsall, a campus director of another Christian group called Navigators, says he has around 25 members. Edsall has worked at a number of universities across the nation including UC Berkeley, Texas Tech and the University of Oregon, where he has been working for over 16 years. He told us that “the difference in size and participation in religion is very regional; the left coast is really liberal."  Edsall also informed us that there has been no recent survey to find the accurate number of Evangelicals on campus, but 10 years ago there were no more than 1,000 students.

Faculty

“Evangelical Christian professors are found in far fewer numbers than the general public—even less in non-denominational public and private schools throughout the United States” according to the survey by Tobin. An interesting question to ask is what accounts for this disparity? The number of identified Evangelical Christian professors is very small at the University of Oregon as well. The OIED spoke with most of them, although because the University of Oregon doesn’t ask religious affiliation questions, the OIED cannot be 100 percent positive. According to Harbaugh’s study, within the University of Oregon faculty, only 5 percent are registered as Republicans. The business, law, and music schools are the top three departments at the University of Oregon where they teach.

Eugene and University of Oregon students and faculty: Less religious and Liberal

The broader spectrum and Eugene

Next to Christians, with 76.5 percent, the second largest self-described religious identification in the United States is non-religious with 14.1 percent. The remaining groups include 3.7 percent “other” religion and 5.4 percent non- respondents according to the ARIS. From 1990 to 2001 the number of non-religious Americans increased from 8 percent to 14 percent. “Those who identify with 'no religion' constitute the largest groups in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming” according to the ARIS. In Lane County there are approximately 243,700 unclaimed congregational adherents according to the ARDA. In terms of political affiliations, 39 percent of Oregonians are registered Democrats, with 42 percent of people in Lane County registered as Democrats according to Harbaugh’s study. From this data, it is clear to see that the University of Oregon religious diversity and political affiliations do not accurately reflect the United States as a whole.

Faculty political and religious affiliations

According to the national survey “Religious Beliefs and Behavior of College Faculty,” college faculty are much less religious than the general public and are five times more likely to self-identify as atheist than the general public. The survey also demonstrated that college faculty is much less Christian than the general public; however, 46 percent asserted they have a personal relationship with God and identify with some religious tradition. Nationally, 48 percent of college faculty said they are liberal; however, according to Bill Harbaugh’s political diversity data, 77 percent of University of Oregon professors identify as Democrats. The following data shows that secular and liberal is clearly the dominant ideology at the University of Oregon.

“The top three ‘gainers’ in America’s vast religious market appear to be Evangelical Christian, non-denominational Christian, and those who profess no religion” according to the ARIS.

At this point in the white paper, the objective of the OIED was to give the University of Oregon faculty and administration accurate and complete information on the presence of Evangelicals on campus and their core beliefs, as well as to present the same information for University of Oregon faculty members. Now, we will begin to focus on the issue of biases and misconceptions of Evangelical Christians on our campus and conclude the white paper with a positive outcome plan.

What is the issue for Evangelical Christians and the University of Oregon?

The OIED began our investigative research on this subject in September 2007. We compiled many lists of people to contact, including: Evangelical professors and students, campus religious directors, administration members, non-religious faculty and students, and local ministries. We worked most closely with the faculty of the Bias Response Team, and members of the Religious Directors Association (RDA).

Our research found that a unanimous issue for Evangelical Christian students is not being able to voice their opinions and beliefs in the classroom. Why this unanimity? As we’ve just displayed, university professors are often liberal and less religious, which can undoubtedly provoke an issue for students who are more conservative in their religious and political beliefs. The biggest issue was the fear that voicing their opinion would cause the professor to mock, ridicule or treat Evangelical students with intellectual condescension in the classroom. Some Evangelical students feel their grades could be compromised if they spoke up because they often have a dissenting opinion compared to their overtly liberal professor. A troubling finding from the survey showed that 7 percent of professors “very often” perceive that religious minority students are reluctant to express their views because they might be contrary to those held by faculty. Another 14 percent of professors said they “fairly often” perceive this, and 38 percent said they “occasionally perceive” this to be true. “If three of every five faculty believe that religious minority students on campus often, sometimes, or occasionally do not want to contradict professors, they have identified a deep and wide breach in the promotion and protection of diversity and open debate,” according to the survey by Tobin.

Perception problems and generalizing

The problems of perception and generalizing are crucial to this issue. According to Chicora Martin, the University of Oregon’s co-director of the Bias Response Team (BRT), “There’s a perception that Christianity is a dominant culture. People attach the term Evangelical Christian with other issues, including anti-abortion, opposition to gay rights and close-mindedness.” In the 2006-2007 Bias Response Team annual report, 13 percent of all biases reported on the University of Oregon campus were religiously affiliated. Ryan Moore, director of Northwest Christian Ministries said, “Many times professors don’t realize they are closing the door for conversations with Evangelical students because of the way they talk about certain issues. It influences how students share.” This is a prime example as to why the Bias Response Team exists, to facilitate and bridge crucial communication between professors and students.

From a student perspective, Caleb Lorg, an Evangelical freshman on campus says the most common misconception he faces is that people assume following Christ means giving up on all things you enjoy. “Too many people reject Jesus, but in effect are not rejecting Jesus, but rejecting what they associate Jesus with” Lorg said.

Political differences

Another important aspect to consider is how much the intertwining of politics influences misconceptions and biases. English professor Linda Kintz spoke with the OIED about a bias that she perceives is caused by the Religious Right political movement. “The Religious Right has attempted to gain political power for a particular group by constructing a political machine and exploiting people’s religious beliefs.” The Religious Right is more extreme in their Evangelical Christian beliefs and has proven to be a powerful political force. Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors agrees with Kintz. “The particular kind of Republican Party activism that some Evangelicals have engaged in over the years has scared many academics. There is a cultural and political resistance between the worlds of academia and Christianity,” Nelson said. Because of our media, among other things, there is a false misconception that all Evangelicals are political activists who want to dominant American politics “The Evangelical community in the United States is huge and there are all sorts of Evangelicals. When discussing them, you need to know which particular group and region of Evangelicals you’re talking about,” stated Kintz.

Faculty may argue that their level of negativity about Evangelical Christians is a political disapproval, not a religious one. However, unhappiness with the politics of Evangelical Christians should not legitimize a lack of tolerance from college professors. It is clear to see that as with any ethnicity, race or gender, you cannot lump a group of people into one category, or stereotype, when numerous variables make everyone individual.

Evolution vs. creationism

The final misunderstanding the OIED wants to address is the opposition to scientific objectivity among Evangelicals. Most academics believe in evolution and the development of the universe through natural selection as scientific facts, where most Evangelical Christians believe in creationism: “a belief in a God who is the absolute creator of heaven and earth, out of nothing, by an act of free will,” according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Jack Boss, an associate professor of music theory and an Evangelical Christian, told the OIED that “Many faculty and students are working from the assumption that atheism and materialism are the only options available to be the intelligent, educated person. Academics assume that great thinkers such as St. Augustine or Thomas Aquinas were 'fooled' into accepting a man-made system of beliefs as absolute truth. Because of this, liberal professors will place Evangelical students and faculty into the same ‘fool’ category.”

According to the initial survey by Tobin, math, science and social sciences faculty are the least likely to believe in God. These departments are typically where the most substantial differences in beliefs come into effect. From the feedback the OIED received from University of Oregon students, sociology professors are the most likely to interject their beliefs and opinions. Glen Waddlle, an economics professor for the University of Oregon and an Evangelical Christian said, “A positive theory is making a statement that’s either true or false; there’s nothing to be debated. If I go beyond that and build some viewpoint, then it turns into a normative statement which is where one interjects their belief system.” Waddlle fears that the academy is losing touch with what is strictly positive and flooding students with normative evaluations that are not based on positive theorizing. “It’s intellectually dishonest and a waste of time,” claims Waddlle.

Another example of this can be found on the website noindoctrination.org, which was created by parent supporters of Horowitz. It is a non-profit organization that collects and disseminates information on the importance of multiple viewpoints in higher education. Students from across the nation are encouraged to post any reported biases from their college professors on this website. The OIED found that one bias was reported from a University of Oregon professor. The student reported that in her introduction to sociology course, the professor introduced himself as biased and informed the class he would be integrating his political opinion into the lectures. The student said that her professor’s lectures were extremely inappropriate. This Web site sends a notice to each professor to contest the bias if wanted; however, in this case the professor chose not to participate.

The OIED strongly hopes that we have provided the University of Oregon faculty and administration with enough background and relevant information to show that religious biases and misconceptions about Evangelical Christians do exist on this campus, and solutions need to be prescribed to enable the University of Oregon to live up to its reputation and truly honor the academic and religious freedom of every student.

The positive outcome plan

After six months of research, multiple revisions, and assistance from the Public Relations Society of America, the members of the OIED have put together a positive outcome plan for the issue of professor biases against Evangelical Christian students at the University of Oregon. To date, the OIED is creating an online manual/guide dealing with this issue. The manual will be accessible to all faculty and administration through the university’s main Web site. It will be updated every term and or as needed.

The manual will be a Web resource that will feature everything from generalizations, myths, truths, common questions and answers, and stereotypes about Evangelical Christians. It will also include detailed information on the goals and missions of the Evangelical Christian organizations on campus such as Navigators and InterVarsity, as well as background information on the directors of these organizations. The OIED thinks that this will be a key element in addressing the problems because faculty should know what the real goals of these groups are. For example, a common misconception among academics is to think that most Evangelicals are very politically motivated. However, after talking with the directors and student leaders of these organizations, the OIED found that they are far more focused on “social gospel” which is aimed at the poor and giving back, as well as issues like human sex trafficking and suicide prevention training. (Navigators and NW Christian Ministries have both done seminars on these topics). The OIED fully believes that providing an online resource for professors to refer to when needed will be a massive step in mitigating and ending the biases that exist against Evangelical Christian students and faculty. The manual is exempt from any bias or perspective, and has been designed to provide full and accurate disclosure.

The launching of the proposed online manual, “Open Your Eyes to Religious Biases” is set for the first week of spring term 2008. The OIED plans to throw a release party which will include an open forum with two scholars we have specifically selected who will discuss the wide spectrum of religious beliefs. Guest speakers affiliated with the university will be invited, and food will be provided. We will invite all university faculty members, all Evangelical Christian student organizations, and everyone who assisted the OIED in this interesting and important issue.

The OIED and everyone who aided our research collectively believes that this manual will work because it will help to rebuild the trust of Evangelical Christian students by informing all University of Oregon professors of an issue they may not have been aware. The manual will also provide information and tools on how to effectively communicate with all students regardless of their religious affiliation, as well as ideas and tips on how to deal with religious issues in the classroom. Above all things, the goal of this manual is to end the perpetuation of bias and religious intolerance toward Evangelical Christians everywhere on campus.