Is the Chronicle of Higher Education not being politically correct?

I must give credit where credit is due.  The Chronicle of Higher Education published an opinion piece by Notre Dame professor Christian Smith calling the scathing reception of Mark Regnerus's research a witch hunt. I made a similar argument in a previous post.

Unfortunately, I was surprised that the Chronicle posted an opinion piece from that perspective.  I supposed I shouldn't have been, since they also published opinion pieces about how universities should eliminate Black Studies programs.  (Of course, there was such an uproar that the blogger who posted that opinion was soon fired for doing so.  Fortunately Dr. Smith is not a regular contributor to the Chronicle.) The Chronicle, to its credit, seems willing to publish views that lie outside of academic orthodoxy, even if they don't have the stomach to keep such dissident views around for long.

I should note that I am not opposed to Black Studies programs.  I actually think they play an important role in academia.  The blog post linked to above was poorly thought out, in my opinion.  But, I want that perspective heard in the debate without getting shouted down without rational discussion.  I taught for five years at a Historically Black College and I exposed my students to a (more sophisticated) argument that Black Studies should be eliminated, even though I disagree with the position myself.

I think healthy debate is good for academia.  I just don't think there is an equal opportunity to present one's views.  I believe Dr. Regnerus was discriminated against because of the conclusion reached in his article.  I wish I could think otherwise, but the evidence to me is overwhelming.  He suffered from a politically correct witch hunt.  And, even if they are inconsistent with it, I must give credit to the Chronicle for breaking through the politically correct dogma and allowing a diverse opinion to be presented.