Posted on 04/15/2003 4:44:18 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
A study made public today reveals a stunning lack of political diversity in the faculty of Ithaca College (IC), with 117 registered Democrats or Greens (93.6%) versus only 8 registered Republicans or Conservatives (6.4%).
At a debate on affirmative action on April 2nd at IC, Tompkins County Republican Chairman Mark Finkelstein contended that there is a distinct lack of political diversity in the IC faculty. IC President Peggy Williams, who attended the debate, declined to acknowledge a lack of political diversity on the IC faculty. IC Professor Gwen Seaquist, who along with Finkelstein was a member of the debate panel, asserted that to the contrary, there was considerable political diversity on the IC faculty. When Finkelstein cited national studies demonstrating a preponderance of liberals in college faculties, President Williams and Professor Seaquist pointed out that IC was not included in those studies, and challenged Finkelstein to substantiate his claims.
Subsequent to the debate, the Tompkins County Republican Party and the IC Republicans, a student group, decided to take up the challenge that President Williams and Professor Seaquist had presented. They undertook a study of the political party registration of the faculty members in departments of the social sciences and related fields at IC: Anthropology, Business, Economics, English, Environmental Studies, Health Policy Studies, History, Politics, Psychology, Religion and Philosophy, Sociology, Speech Communication, TV-Radio (includes journalism program) and Writing. (Departments in the hard sciences, such as Biology, or in applied fields, such as Physical Therapy, Sports Studies or Speech Pathology, were not included in the study.)
The names of the faculty members in the respective departments were obtained from the faculty lists appearing on the IC website. In New York state, political party registration is a matter of public record.
The party affiliation of the faculty members was determined by reference to a recent data base of all registered voters in Tompkins County, in which IC and the City of Ithaca are located. For a variety of reasons, including residence outside Tompkins County, a choice not to register, or citizenship in another country, affiliations for all faculty members could not be determined. A number of faculty members who are registered voters did not register with a political party, and two were registered with the Independence Party, which can be considered middle-of-the-road.
But among those faculty members registered in TompkinsCounty with either a party of the right – Republican or Conservative, or a party of the left – Democratic or Green, the results were stunning in revealing an almost total lack of diversity.
Study Highlights
Of the 125 faculty members registered with either the Democrats/Greens or the Republicans/Conservatives, 117 were registered with either the Democrats or Greens and only 8 with the Republicans or Conservatives.
In percentage terms, 93.6% were Democrats or Greens, only 6.4% were Republicans or Conservatives. If there is one department in which political diversity would be crucial, it is the Department of Politics. Yet the study revealed that the Department of Politics is composed of eight Democrats and not a single Republican!
History is another field where diversity should be considered essential. Yet, as with its colleagues in Politics, there was not a single Republican to be found: 7 Democrats, 0 Republicans.
The English Department also had a “perfect” record, with 13 Democrats and no Republicans.
The Departments of Psychology, Sociology and Environmental Studies were also without a single Republican or Conservative.
While not quite achieving the total “shut-out” of some of its fellow departments, the Department of Writing more than compensated with stunning quantity: 25 Democrats/Greens versus one lonely Republican.
Even in the Department of Business, which might have been expected to be a stronghold of conservative thinkers, Democrats overwhelmed Republicans by 13/2.
The most “diverse” departments were Economics and Health Policy Studies, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by “only” 3/2 and 2/1, respectively. Department chairmen exercise powerful influence over faculty hiring and advancement. Number of Republican or Conservative Department Chairmen identified? IC Republican Chairwoman Michelle Meredith commented, “This study confirms what we as IC students experience daily: a virtual monopoly of liberal faculty members, a near-total absence of professors sympathetic to Republican or conservative principles. How can students properly approach politics, psychology, sociology, English or history from a critical perspective if every professor teaches from a similar point of view?”
Said Tompkins County Republican Party Chairman Finkelstein: “These results mirror the trend throughout academia in which faculties are dominated by liberals to the exclusion of Republicans and conservatives.” He added, “The hypocrisy is stunning.
At the IC debate on affirmative action, great lip service was paid by representatives of the college to the overriding importance of diversity. But when it comes to the kind of diversity that really matters in an institution of higher learning – diversity of thought – the powers-that-be practice the most rigid discrimination.
The IC Republicans and the Tompkins County Republican Committee issued the following joint statement:
"As a major institutional goal, Ithaca College has formally committed itself to promoting diversity. We call upon the faculty and administration of Ithaca College to honor that commitment by pledging to seek true diversity of thought in its faculty.
"Specifically, we call on Ithaca College to seek significantly increased representation of Republicans and conservatives in its faculties in the social sciences and related fields."
(Excerpt) Read more at frontpagemag.com ...
Either that, or we kick 'em out of the Union.
50% believe in killing capitalist pigs to achieve socialism, while the other 50% believe torture and concentration camps will suffice.
See?
All points of view are represented.
The unknown variable is the total number of faculty at the college. If there are 1000 faculty members, then knowing the political affiliation of 120 would not be sufficient to predict the political affiliations of the remaining 880, particulalry since the 120 faculty members were not chosen at random. But if 150 is the total number of faculty, then the analysis of the political affiliations of the known faculty is sufficent to predict the affiliations of the unknown. Either way, I have no doubt whatsoever that the vast majority of college faculty throughout the Country are well left of left.
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