Jonathan Harris: Why Are Academics Misrepresenting Reform of Title VI?

Jonathan Calt Harris, in National Review (May 5, 2004):

"Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize the International Advisory Board to mandate, direct, or control an institution of higher education's specific instructional content, curriculum, or program of instruction."

The above sentence is apparently very difficult for academics to understand. It comes from a section of federal legislation — H.R. 3077, Section 633(b) — that has passed the House and is now before the Senate. The bill would establish an advisory board over the portion of government funds (approximately $90 million in 2004) sent to select American universities for international studies.

These funds, called Title VI of the Higher Education Act, go to"area studies" programs at National Resource Centers (NRCs) that study different parts of the world. Each of the seventeen Middle East NRCs receives about $500,000 annually. This money is allocated with the understanding that, by fostering expertise in the various regions of the world, they further U.S. national security.

Strangely, some of the Middle Eastern studies academics who receive these funds seem unable to comprehend the nature of the proposed board:

Juan Cole, professor of the modern Middle East at the University of Michigan:"The main goal of this legislation is to impose an ideological agenda on university teaching, research and writing about issues like the Middle East. The point of the committee is to warp academic study and ensure that independent researchers are not allowed to be heard."

Nezar AlSayyad, chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley: The bill is"intervention in what faculty members do and it is an attempt to silence those who criticize the government."

Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said chair at Columbia University:"This legislation represents the thin end of the wedge for political interference with the curriculum. It is meant to provide a highly partisan, ideological litmus test for academics."

Amy Newhall, executive director of the Middle Eastern Studies Association: The law creates"an investigative body" that will"establish a precedent for future legislation directed at any field, discipline, or professional school in any and all universities."

All of these statements — and many others like them by Middle East specialists — are false. Ignoring the clear, unambiguous language of the legislation quoted above, Middle East specialists haul in extraneous issues of ideological agenda, partisanship, litmus testing, and precedents....