Posted on 04/17/2003 7:33:24 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
Study analyzes faculty politics Few registered as conservative Katie Maslanka - Staff Writer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 17, 2003
A recent analysis of political diversity at Ithaca College revealed that out of 125 professors in 14 departments, an overwhelming majority — 93.6 percent — are registered as Democrats or Greens. Only 6.4 percent are registered as Republicans or Conservatives.
The Tompkins County Republican Committee and the Ithaca College Republicans sponsored the study to inform the college’s administration about what they see as a lack of political diversity on campus.
According to the study, out of the 125 professors who registered with a political affiliation in Tompkins County, 117 are liberal, and eight are conservative. Affiliations for the other 211 faculty members in those departments could not be determined due to residence outside Tompkins County, a choice not to register with a political party or citizenship in another country.
The study was initiated after the affirmative action debate April 2, during which Mark Finkelstein, chairman of the county GOP and a panelist, said there is a lack of political diversity among the college faculty.
According to the press release from ICR and the Tompkins County GOP, administrators and faculty members attending and participating in the debate asserted that there was considerable political diversity on campus.
“I wanted to see if what they sensed was the truth could be borne out by hard numbers,” Finkelstein said.
The study focused on 14 departments. Finkelstein said the study did not focus on the hard sciences or applied fields, such as biology or physical therapy, because he considered political affiliation to be less important in those fields.
Sophomore Michelle Meredith, chairwoman of ICR, said she was not surprised by the study’s findings.
“I can’t say I’m all that shocked, but it is amazing to ... see that there really are almost no Republican or conservative faculty members,” she said.
Asma Barlas, associate professor of politics and chairwoman of the department, said the professors in her department cover a variety of viewpoints regardless of their political affiliation.
“I do believe Ithaca College can do a better job of diversifying its faculty, most of whom are white males,” Barlas said. “Politics, incidentally, has one of the best track records in this regard, and not having a Republican on our faculty is not the only yardstick by which we can measure diversity.”
Senior Kara Pangburn, a politics major, said she was not surprised to hear that the majority of professors are registered as Democrats or Greens, but she thought some diversity was still present.
“I don’t think that the study takes into account that there is diversity in other senses,” she said. “A lot of the foreign professors — and we have a lot of international professors in the politics department — they don’t identify either way. So you are getting political diversity; you’re just getting it on an international scale.”
Barlas said a professor does not need to be a card-carrying member of a political party to teach a variety of perspectives.
“I could easily point out, for instance, that I am not a peasant but I teach about peasants in Third World countries,” she said.
Frank Musgrave, professor of economics and one of two conservatives in the department, said he considered the lack of political diversity a serious matter. Many colleges focus on cultural diversity without taking other kinds into account, he said.
Musgrave also said he was concerned that a lack of diversity interferes with academic freedom.
Meredith said she often needs to do her own research if she wants to find an opinion other than that of the left for assignments. Though she has learned a great deal this way, she said, it provides a disservice to students who do not make a similar effort.
Michael Trotti, assistant professor of history, said that without comparing the body of professors to the body of applicants for the position, it is difficult to find the statistics meaningful.
“I don’t think it’s a cause for alarm,” he said. “I don’t particularly think that a political affiliation defines — and it certainly doesn’t with me — how I teach or how accepting I am in the classroom of alternative views.”
According to a study done by American Enterprise magazine, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of California at Berkeley are more liberal than other colleges in the country. Meredith estimated that Ithaca College is on a similar level, based on her study results.
The first step to increasing political diversity is to reveal the problem, Meredith said.
“They obviously didn’t know the problem was as bad as it is,” she said. “Maybe seeing it will encourage them to seek out more conservative professors and conservative viewpoints.”
A database of all political party registrations from the Tompkins County Board of Elections was used to gather the information. Faculty members’ names were obtained from the college Web site.
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The following departments were included in the study. They are as follows, with D/G representing those faculty members registered as Democrats or Greens and R/C representing those faculty members registered as Republicans or Conservatives. • Anthropology: 5 D/G, 0 R/C • Business: 13 D/G, 2 R/C • Economics: 3 D/G, 2 R/C • English: 13 D/G, 0 R/C • Environmental Studies: 5 D/G, 0 R/C • Health Policy Studies: 2 D/G, 1 R/C • History: 7 D/G, 0 R/C • Politics: 8 D/G, 0 R/C • Psychology: 10 D/G, 0 R/C • Religion and Philosophy: 5 D/G,1 R/C • Sociology: 6 D/G, 0 R/C • Speech Communication: 3 D/G, 0 R/C • Television-Radio: 12 D/G, 1 R/C • Writing: 25 D/G, 1 R/C
Pray for GW and Our Troops
Time to end the tenure of the Tenured Radicals whose main mission in life seems to be the destruction of Western Civilization. Their credibility has gone the way of their youth...
It is one way by which we make a point of not measuring diversity
Senior Kara Pangburn, a politics major, said she was not surprised to hear that the majority of professors are registered as Democrats or Greens, but she thought some diversity was still present.
The differences between Democrats and Greens is starkly defined!
“I don’t think that the study takes into account that there is diversity in other senses,” she said. “A lot of the foreign professors — and we have a lot of international professors in the politics department — they don’t identify either way. So you are getting political diversity; you’re just getting it on an international scale.”
They’re not Democrats or Greens they’re Socialist.
Judging from the article, they have managed to find a way to oppose it. The Prof. Barlas, the Chairman of the Politics Department quoted in the article (and who is by the way not a US citizen), is still apparently concerned only with reducing the number of white males on the faculty.
As for Republicans, it's not necessary for there to be any, since she is capable, according to her, of teachin about being a peasant (and presumably a Republican) despite being neither.
My condolences, although I live in West LA, not much better, but it does seem that you are surrounded, please keep up the subversions. I've been hearing the beginnings of backlashes developing on some campuses to their Commie Profs and their Anti-Americanism. Even UC Berkeley has a "conservative" voice on campus(newspaper). Perhaps there is hope for the next generation.
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