The Hoover Institution at Stanford University, a think tank, research institution and one of the last remnants of highly-respected conservative and libertarian thought on college campuses anywhere in the United States, holds an interview-style show called Uncommon Knowledge. Four years ago, Peter Robinson, former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan and host of the show, sat down with Harvard University professor Harvey Mansfield.

Both Robinson and Mansfield are graduates of the Ivy League, and they discussed a hypothetical scenario in which a college, such as Harvard, had 50 professors, 47 of whom were male and three of whom were female. Another scenario was also contemplated: a college in which there were 47 white professors while only three were people of color. In either situation, both determined that university leaders would do whatever possible to bring gender and ethnic balance to the faculty.

But then Robinson pondered aloud: why is it, then, that when academia has a real-world dilemma where there are 47 liberal professors and only three conservative professors, nothing is done? Shouldn’t academic and intellectual diversity be the standard that colleges prioritize the most?

The answer, in Mansfield’s eyes, was grim: “Of course it should, but it doesn’t. These people all-of-a-sudden go moral and say ‘Oh, you mustn’t force us to make appointments on the basis of politics. So we only choose whoever’s ‘best’ and if it just turns out that you’ve got 47 liberals and three conservatives, well, that is... funny… but it’s not really objectionable, and it isn’t as if you conservatives really suffer. Your being conservative, you probably have more money than the rest of us.’”

If Mansfield’s quotation is at all representative of the overall culture of academia across the United States, then our nation’s universities have got a serious problem on their hands that they must address immediately. It is time to sound the alarm for universities across the country whose students graduate without receiving a single dose of the fundamental purpose of college: to question authority, participate in robust, rigorous debate and better understand divergent views on the issues of the day.

It is, of course, close to impossible to compile data on something as intangible as bias. But the studies that are out there confirm that a liberal bias exists in academia, and its effects are dangerous. A study published by Cambridge University Press examining the field of social psychology, for example, found that a lack of political diversity within the field promulgated biased notions and concluded that there was an “underrepresentation of non-liberals in social psychology… most likely due to a combination of self-selection, hostile climate and discrimination.” As a result, the bias of academia has a tangible, adverse effect on college students.

The sad truth is that if one is not conservative and chooses to study a field relative to politics—economics, psychology, political science and others—the lack of intellectual and ideological diversity at many American universities makes for an insipid educational experience. It deprives one of any challenge to or moment of conflict with one’s closely-held beliefs.

In Mansfield’s words, “When you’re a conservative student… you have to struggle a little and you have to be more skeptical than most people and you have to think in your mind how you would answer this kind of argument. You figure it out for yourself. You are more on the defense, but because you have learned how to play defense, you also get better at offense, so you get better at arguing.”

Mansfield’s words allude to something important: the fact that all students should be confronted with an environment that allows for personal growth galvanized by intellectual challenges.

But in reality, liberal bias is progressively seeping its way into the culture of universities like Brandeis. Indeed, a quick search on the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics’ Open Secrets website illuminates where the Brandeis faculty have donated their political contributions in recent election years. In the 2012 election cycle, Brandeis faculty donated a miniscule 4.8 percent of their contributions to Republicans while giving 95.2 percent, or $105,126, to Democrats. In 2014, the Brandeis faculty gave a whopping 0 percent to Republicans, according to the website. Let those numbers sink in. 

But just as important as campaign donations are the simple issues in Brandeis’ course curricula. There is, of course, no clear data on bias at our school, but as a student interested in politics and economics, I have never participated in a class for which the curriculum didn’t completely disregard and besmirch conservative perspectives from the outset. Professors’ critiques of these views—in other words, their opinions—are treated as facts and not given due time to be counter-argued. There is no debate. Unyielding criticism of everything from conservative jurisprudence to libertarian economics to Republican candidates seems to confirm an inherent bias amongst our faculty. And that has a chilling effect on dissenting voices who feel that their views aren’t welcome on campus.

Our university’s leaders and administration are not doing their academic due diligence to hire and encourage conservative and libertarian academics to speak, teach and contribute to the discussion on campus. So let us welcome in the new year by pleading to Brandeis and its administration, Board of Trustees, department chairs and whomever else will listen: fix our system that suppresses those academics who offer opinions that challenge the liberal intelligentsia. Let’s diversify our faculty and hire conservative and libertarian economic, political and philosophical minds, because, to the chagrin of the faculty at Brandeis and other academic institutions, they do indeed exist.

Brandeis University, in its diversity statement, says that it “believes that diverse backgrounds and ideas are crucial to academic excellence.” If honest liberals stand with conservatives to achieve a free and open academic environment that tolerates and celebrates intellectual diversity, we can finally let the words of Brandeis University’s mission statement ring true.