The Exponent


12-01-2004	Previous edition: 11-30-2004

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Liberals dominate university faculty

By Amy Elliott
Staff Writer

A pair of studies released by the National Association of Scholars found that there are more Democrats than Republicans among professors at U.S. colleges.

The institution conducted these studies to measure political bias on campuses. One of the studies asked six social science and humanities association members about the party affiliations of candidates they voted for.

This study found that in the American Anthropological Association, there were 30 members who voted mostly Democratic for every one who voted Republican.

Other associations showed less stark results but had the same Democratic bias.

Will McLauchlan, assistant professor of political science, said he was not terribly surprised by the finding.

He said he has probably encountered more liberals than conservatives, classifying liberals as the people who are open-minded and who will listen and consider the possibility that their views might be wrong.

"Most academics are open-minded," he said.

Elizabeth Kruse, president of Purdue College Democrats, said there might be more Democrats among political science professors, but many teach in disciplines where politics don’t come up.

Melissa Hardy, a senior in the College of Agriculture, said she doesn’t really notice any political sway among her professors.

"All of my classes are science related, so there’s no reason to bring up politics," she said.

She had one professor that wore an "I Voted" sticker to class on Election Day, but that was about it for political exposure in the classroom, she said.

Adam Rusch, chairman of Purdue College Republicans, said he’s had both liberal and conservative professors, but he’s been treated fairly by all.

"We have a really great group of professors here," he said. "I don’t think there is any sort of political favoritism on campus."

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Liberals dominate university faculty

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