UC Boulder finds conservative scholar to counter liberal bias

The University of Colorado at Boulder announced Wednesday that Steven Hayward will serve as the school’s first visiting scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy.

The college created the position to counter accusations of widespread liberal bias on campus. It is funded with $1 million in private donations.

Hayward, who has served as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, and The Heritage Foundation, will begin his appointment in the fall. He is tentatively scheduled to teach two constitutional law courses, one class on American political thought, and another class on free-market environmentalism. He also will lead public discussion events on campus and across the state.

“This is a bold experiment for the university and me to see whether the ideological spectrum can be broadened in a serious and constructive way,” Hayward said in a statement released by the school.

He added his goal would be to make his students better thinkers by asking them to consider fairly a full range of perspectives.

Some conservative critics of higher education applauded the university’s move to broaden discussion on campus. But others say creating a special position for a conservative professor just underscores the school’s liberal ideology. Other schools, including Princeton University, have created similar programs.

Philip DiStefano, the chancellor at UC Boulder, said he welcomed Hayward’s contribution to ideological discussions and expected him to “spark further debate, discourse and critical thinking” on campus.

Listen to a report on UC Boulder’s new conservative scholar on WORLD’s radio news magazine The World and Everything in It.