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May 13, 2021 - Image 5

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I

once had an interaction with my
high school physics teacher that
has stuck with me ever since. Dur-

ing one of the weekly chats we’d have
in her classroom after school, I won-
dered out loud why neither evolution
nor the Big Bang theory were covered
in the biology or physics curricula. My
teacher explained to me that being in
a town drenched in parochial ideol-
ogy, there was a don’t ask, don’t tell
policy covering the teaching of evolu-
tion. Science instructors were encour-
aged to not teach the subject and to
only field questions when asked. While
not surprising to me in light of the cul-
ture of my hometown — Ortonville,
Mich. — it was infuriating to know
that social pressure was pushing my
science teachers to avoid evolution in
their general science courses. No law
was restricting them. Only the fear of
becoming a social pariah was in the
way of them providing students with a
scientifically complete education.

What is happening in my hometown

is not an anomaly in the contemporary
United States. A 2019 survey reported
that only 67% of public high school biol-
ogy teachers present Charles Darwin’s
theory of evolution by natural selec-
tion as the scientific consensus. This
is an increase from past surveys, but
still quite low given that the theory of
evolution is one of the most champi-

oned theories in all of biology. One out
of every three teachers is not portray-
ing evolution by natural selection as
the robust scientific theory that it is
— a theory that has been fortified with
new evidence every year since it was
first proposed. This presents obstacles
to students who wish to further their
science education at postsecondary
institutions. More worrisome is that
evolution denial propagates ignorance
and scientific illiteracy — issues all the
more pertinent in light of the COVID-
19 pandemic.

Legal prohibitions on the public

instruction of evolutionary theory do
not hold anymore, but teachers’ appre-
hension about teaching evolution as
agreed-upon science indicates that
traditionalist mores still weigh down
the American public education system.
Bans on teaching evolution in public
schools is as old as the theory itself. One
of the first major conflicts between
scientific educators and conservative
policy makers in U.S. history was the
Scopes Trial of 1925. This legal case
concerned a Tennessee public school
teacher who taught evolutionary the-
ory despite a Tennessee law prohibit-
ing instruction of human evolution in
any school that received state funding.
This trial catalyzed the debate between
creationism and evolutionary theory.
From then on, legal challenges to the

instruction of evolution and natural
selection in public schools have been
mounted by many Christian groups
— usually those from evangelical tradi-
tions — with varying degrees of success.

Now, I cannot criticize those 1920s

Tennessee creationist policy makers
too virulently, as at that time evolution
was not a majority-held belief among
Christians nor society at large. But crit-
icism is warranted for contemporary
teachers and education boards who
are still reluctant to teach evolutionary
theory and natural selection in light of
the now 160 years of evidence — includ-
ing the crucial discovery of DNA and
genes — that provide robust support for
evolution.

And while I understand that some

regions of the country have intense
negative social sanctions against anti-
creationist rhetoric that can be hard
for teachers to overcome, it is more
important that teachers plan science
curriculum around empirical obser-
vations than socially-pressured tradi-
tional beliefs.

This is not to say that learning about

religious practice has no room in edu-
cation — just that it does not belong in
scientific curriculum at the expense
of silencing scientific fact. A more
apt place would be in the domain of
social studies, with an emphasis on
the diversity of religious practice. But

having evolutionary theory not pre-
sented to students within their sci-
ence courses promotes widespread
ignorance and scientific illiteracy,
two issues detrimental if a soci-
ety wishes to better itself. Denying
students the knowledge that many
biologists view as foundational to
their discipline serves ideology much
more than it serves education. If the
American educational system is to
ever become the best it can be, a thor-
ough vetting of educational policies
has to be conducted. Creationism can
be taught to students as one of many
spiritual beliefs, but not as empirical
fact. Censoring evolution in favor of
creationism in public education not
only sustains ignorance, but is a vio-
lation of the civil liberties of freedom
of religion guaranteed in the Consti-
tution, as the teaching of creationism
as fact promotes a Christian-centric
ideology within the walls of an insti-
tution of the state.

While the trend is moving in the

right direction, more teachers must
embrace evolution by natural selection
as a well supported scientific theory
instead of tacitly mentioning it or not
even discussing the subject. Parts of the
U.S. education system are hell-bent on
sustaining a pre-Scopes trial evangeli-
cal worldview. Again, the pushback of
1920s creationists is not without war-

rant as the debate over fundamental-
ism and modernity were in their infant
stages. However, for teachers and edu-
cation boards to still deny evolution in
the 21st century is downright asinine.
This will only lead to continued igno-
rance among the American public. If the
United States wants to keep progressing,
Americans must first reckon with the
rejection of fact that is occurring within
their educational institutions.

5

Thursday, May 13, 2021

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The college experience without the physical component

Let America’s educators teach science without the stigma

OPINION

SIDDHARTH PARMAR | OPINION COLUMNIST

BENJAMIN DAVIS | OPINION COLUMNIST

I

t’s Dec. 19, 2019, 11 p.m. Indian
Standard Time, and the early
action decisions for the Univer-

sity of Michigan undergraduate class
of 2024 aren’t out yet. I’m not super-
stitious, but the last few times I stayed
up to wait for an application result, I
received a rejection. All of them stated
how “large this year’s applicant pool
was” and how they “couldn’t accept
all of the talented people who applied.”
I also have school the next day, so I call
it a night. A few hours later, I wake to
the sound of my parents bursting in to
tell me that the result came out. I got
in!

March rolls around, and with it

comes an almost overwhelming bout
of senioritis. I spend hours reading
about campus life — about the differ-
ent residence halls in the cardinal-
direction quadrangles, the apparently
cockroach-infested Mary Markley
Residence Hall (mental note: avoid
Markley at all costs!), the libraries
with nicknames like the “UGLi” and

the “Dude” and outdoor spaces like
“the Arb.” These daydreams sadly coin-
cide with my high school’s final exams.
After a quick search and panic about

rescinding offers, my focus returns to
my studies.

Then, this novel virus that had

seemed too distant to cause any
trouble hits home. India goes into a
nationwide lockdown two days before
my last exam. Just like that, we enter
a state of limbo, learning more with
each passing day. As someone who
only vaguely remembers the 2009
H1N1 pandemic, I watch in horror as
stories of overwhelmed hospitals and

mass graves spread online. Masks,
hand sanitizer and social distancing
are all part of the new normal. Amid
this chaos, the University still has in-
person course listings for the fall. A
nagging voice tells me that surely we
wouldn’t be in person come August.

Orientation rolls around. The

guides emphatically proclaim that
“college is what you make of it!” None-
theless, rumor has it that instruction
might be mostly, if not completely, vir-
tual. I have to create a schedule that
will be doable regardless of whether
I’m in Ann Arbor or Bangalore. I set-
tle for a course load that won’t be too
early for an in-person semester or too
late if I stayed home.

A few days later, the courses are

updated to reflect their new, virtual
status. Reality truly sinks in when I
cancel my housing contract, know-
ing then that there is no turning back.
A few months later, freshman year
starts at my desk while awkwardly
engaging in Zoom icebreakers.

Now, on the other side of my vir-

tual freshman year, I’m still thinking
about a few questions that I, like many
others, have wrestled with since start-
ing class: What can I make of college
without being in college? What does it
mean to be a Wolverine?

Is it in academics? I had newfound

freedom in crafting my course sched-
ule this year. My classes challenged
me in a way that I had never experi-
enced before. I was exposed to new
ideas, new pedagogical methods and
incredible peers. At the same time, I
experienced these things at either 3
a.m. or via sets of pre-recorded videos.

Maybe it lies in the many student

organizations and clubs. I heard of
events like Festifall and Winterfest,
featuring hundreds of clubs. Typi-
cally, they would be ripe examples of
how each student individualizes their
experience. However, they held vir-
tual meetings at times inaccessible to
me. Then again, I applied on a whim
to The Michigan Daily and now find

myself in the middle of another col-
umn.

I am an avid sports fan. Perhaps

sports are the secret ingredient? I
remember hearing about the magic
atmosphere on campus during game
days, be it in tailgating or joining thou-
sands of fans in the Big House. COVID-
19 ensured that none of that happened.

The pandemic couldn’t, however,

stop me from following Michigan bas-
ketball. I was delighted when we beat
the Ohio State University in Colum-
bus, Ohio. I was exasperated with the
University of Illinois over their efforts
to undermine our regular-season
championship. I was gutted when Isa-
iah Livers became injured just before
March Madness. All for a sport, mind
you, I had never watched regularly
before this year.

Siddharth Parmar is an Opinion Columnist

and can be reached at sidpar@umich.edu.



Read more at michigandaily.com

Design by Tejal Mahajan

ANYA
SINGH
|
CARTOONIST
CAN
BE

CONTACTED
AT
ANYAS@UMICH.EDU

Benjamin Davis is an Opinion Columnist

and can be reached at bendav@umich.edu.

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