Back in the day, college students didn't really have much to go off of when selecting courses or professors.
Maybe someone you were friends with had that professor before and could sway you one way or another. But chances are you were going in blind.
If there's one thing you can say about politics, it certainly brings out the best in people.
As you can see in the above video, a political "debate" went awry when a University of Oregon Professor physically pushed two students subsequent to making "racists remarks" towards them...