Last year, Ahman Al-Qloushi, a Kuwaiti immigrant enrolled at California’s Foothill College, rebelled when his professor assigned an essay discussing how the U.S. Constitution was written to serve the elite at the expense of the lower classes.

Instead, Al-Qloushi, chairman of the college’s Young Republican chapter, wrote an essay focusing on the U.S. Constitution’s contribution to freedom.

When he got an F, Al-Qloushi cried foul and claimed he was being repressed by a liberal-leaning professor. His cause was taken up by conservative commentators, and he was featured on Fox News’ Hannity and Colmes. Al-Qloushi became a poster child for activists like David Horowitz who claim that American liberal arts universities are pushing a liberal agenda in the classroom.

In the weeks that followed, several professors—including conservatives—said they would have failed Al-Qloushi’s essay too, as it was sloppy, off-point, and factually challenged.

But the questions remain: Should professors be banned from bringing personal politics into the classroom? Do college students have to hide their beliefs because of a legitimate fear that faculty members will punish opposing viewpoints? Or have conservatives merely seized on another wedge issue in America’s ongoing culture wars?

There is factual basis and rhetorical heat on both sides of the issue. Conservatives point to a high percentage of professors who are registered Democrats and come to the conclusion that college lecture halls have become pulpits for liberal ideologues. Liberals, in turn, note the rarity of documented cases of actual political bias in college classrooms and contend that conservatives are trying to politicize the classroom.

Either way, the media debate on the issue will rage on and is likely to forget those who are most affected by its consequences: the students.

Many University at Buffalo students have already experienced professors who incorporate opinions into lessons. Some have even complained that they find ways to slip in information, even if it’s irrelevant to what they’re learning.

“It’s difficult when a professor puts [their] opinion into lectures,” says Rebecca Powell, a freshman accounting major. “[Students] don’t have enough knowledge on the subject, which in turn limits [their] ability to think freely.”

“People would voice their own opinions and he would shoot them down,” says junior aerospace engineering major Nate Allen of one of his political communications professors. “He would talk about how bad conservatives were and if anyone objected he would personally argue with them. I was taken aback by the lack of debate.” He also added that the professor would wear T-shirts to class that stated “Bush lied, thousands died” or featured President Bush’s face with a target sign on top.

Liberals aren’t the only professors who push an agenda, however. “I have a history professor who accusingly asks questions to see who is liberal,” says freshman computer science major Jeff Fritz. “I’m afraid to raise my hand.”

“If material is presented with a bias, it’s more difficult to learn the truth about things,” says political science professor James Campbell. “Truth requires an objective evaluation of subject matter. A bias distorts what people gain from that.”

UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute conducted a survey in 2002 which included more than 32,000 full-time undergraduate professors. In its findings, 48 percent of professors considered themselves either liberal or “far left,” as opposed to a mere 18 percent who considered themselves conservative or “far right.” Similarly, studies from the University of Santa Clara found that Democratic professors in humanities and social sciences outnumber Republican teachers by at least seven to one.

Closer to home, Buffalo News analysis found that where applicable, 62 percent of 744 UB’s faculty were registered Democrats, 18 percent were Republican, and 17 percent had no party. According to Campbell, “There’s no question that UB faculty is lopsidedly liberal.”

Many commentators, however, argue that voter registration data does not prove that there is a dominating bias on college campuses.

“Such statistics do not show that conservatives are rejected for hire or tenure at a higher rate than liberals,” writes Kevin Collins in the Daily Pennsylvanian, the student newspaper of the University of Pennsylvania. “It is possible that the critical inquiry that academia demands attracts more liberals than conservatives.”

The issue of slanted lectures is especially problematic in public universities, which are funded by taxpayers. Many citizens, including parents, may not want to support colleges where their values are not being upheld.

Professor Campbell explains, “I think it’s important that taxpayers should expect the best-run educational system that can be provided, including a diversity of perspectives and teachers that work to prevent ideological orthodoxy.”

Issues such as the war in Iraq and the international effort to combat terrorism have brought heightened focus to ideological loyalty for many students.

“I have some very close friends and relatives that are risking their lives in Iraq and I can’t stand when some of my liberal professors say they don’t support this ‘bogus’ war,” said sophomore political science major Omar Navillo. “This is a very touchy subject and I don’t appreciate them lowering the integrity of hardworking soldiers.”

Earlier this year, conservative students at UB held a picnic where they arranged a “coming out day” for Republicans and handed out applications for Canadian citizenship to liberals still resentful of Bush’s victory. It was an effort to protest what they see as a controlling liberal ideology on campus, which has been echoed recently in the College Democrats’ Bash Bush Bonanza and organized protests of Colin Powell’s appearance at Alumni Arena.

Tom Gueli, treasurer of the College Republicans, says he dealt with bias first-hand with an engineering professor. One day, when collecting papers, Gueli had a folder with the insignia for the Conservative Political Action Conference he attended on it. He says his professor unashamedly declared, “Whomever this belongs to needs to get this out of my face because if I know whose it is I’ll hold it against them for the rest of the year.”

Many Republicans are working to ensure conservatives have a voice in the nation’s universities. In the past two years, Congress and at least 18 states have introduced legislation to strengthen and solidify campus conservatives with an Academic Bill of Rights. Some measures include universities’ assurance that hiring practices and students’ grades will not be based on political or religious beliefs. Pennsylvania and Georgia are alone in passing such legislation.

Academic groups, such as the American Association of University Professors, have said such measures infringe on their academic freedom, or the right to make qualified comments based on knowledge and expertise. They contend that if professors have a fear of discussing controversial topics, some of today’s most important issues will be ignored. They also point to the fact that in most business schools conservatives make up the majority of faculty members.

“The right does not really want to promote opposing views in all circumstances,” writes Collins of the Daily Pennsylvanian. “There is hardly an outcry over the lack of Marx in business classes.”

Today’s students are learning the ways of the world during an ideologically polar time. Though it may be easy to get caught up in partisan debate, it is important for students to remember where the most important political influence comes from: your own mind and personal experience.

“I think students have to be aware and be skeptical of what anyone tells them—not just believe because they’re told something,” says UB’s Campbell. “Being an educated person requires not taking information based on authority, but being able to assess it best on their own.”