Politics in the Classroom
Sean Garrigan
Issue date: 4/29/05 Section: Human Interest
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Are you a liberal or conservative professor?
While the November presidential elections are over, there have been many news stories appearing in recent weeks that are within the scope of another Democrat and Republican confrontation. This strife has to do with the affiliations that college faculty members hold to a certain political ideology. On most college campuses around the country, the common trend seems to be that most professors are strongly liberal. This has caused a great amount of concern to most moderate and conservative voices. A couple of different surveys performed by Smith College and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) affirmed the common perception that professors who a liberal ideology dominate the college scene. Smith College surveyed 1,600 undergraduate faculty members from 183 institutions.
The results revealed that 72 percent of the teachers identified themselves as liberal whereas only 15 percent were conservative. Also, among the most elite universities, 87 percent of the faculty is liberal and 13 percent are conservative. ACTA's survey was conducted among students at the top 50 universities in the country. The students stated that nearly half of their professors commented on politics in the classroom and used the classroom to present their personal political views. The most surprising result was that 29 percent of the students felt that they had to agree with their professor's political views in order to get a good grade. Now granted, most of the top 50 universities are located in the Northeast and on the West Coast where liberal political ideologies are prevailing.
A survey was conducted at Rockhurst University to see if the political affiliations of the faculty measured up to national standards. The survey did not produce adequate results due to the fact that many did not respond. The reason for this is because political preferences are somewhat of a private issue that most people like to keep to themselves. Also, there is nothing much to gain if a teacher openly discloses his or her political preferences, especially if they are not tenured. Despite these obstacles the Rockhurst survey did provide some helpful insight into the teaching philosophies of some of the Rockhurst faculty. Among those who responded, there seemed to be a general con-
While the November presidential elections are over, there have been many news stories appearing in recent weeks that are within the scope of another Democrat and Republican confrontation. This strife has to do with the affiliations that college faculty members hold to a certain political ideology. On most college campuses around the country, the common trend seems to be that most professors are strongly liberal. This has caused a great amount of concern to most moderate and conservative voices. A couple of different surveys performed by Smith College and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) affirmed the common perception that professors who a liberal ideology dominate the college scene. Smith College surveyed 1,600 undergraduate faculty members from 183 institutions.
The results revealed that 72 percent of the teachers identified themselves as liberal whereas only 15 percent were conservative. Also, among the most elite universities, 87 percent of the faculty is liberal and 13 percent are conservative. ACTA's survey was conducted among students at the top 50 universities in the country. The students stated that nearly half of their professors commented on politics in the classroom and used the classroom to present their personal political views. The most surprising result was that 29 percent of the students felt that they had to agree with their professor's political views in order to get a good grade. Now granted, most of the top 50 universities are located in the Northeast and on the West Coast where liberal political ideologies are prevailing.
A survey was conducted at Rockhurst University to see if the political affiliations of the faculty measured up to national standards. The survey did not produce adequate results due to the fact that many did not respond. The reason for this is because political preferences are somewhat of a private issue that most people like to keep to themselves. Also, there is nothing much to gain if a teacher openly discloses his or her political preferences, especially if they are not tenured. Despite these obstacles the Rockhurst survey did provide some helpful insight into the teaching philosophies of some of the Rockhurst faculty. Among those who responded, there seemed to be a general con-