Faculty politics criticized
Conservative perspective often missing from campuses, study reports
Erik Borg
Issue date: 12/9/04 Section: Campus News
Conservative activists in Wisconsin and around the nation are pushing to reverse the trend of disproportionately liberal college campuses, claiming conservative discrimination in the hiring and promoting of professors.
A study conducted by Daniel Klein, an associate professor of economics at Santa Clara University in association with the National Association of Scholars, supports the belief that the number of conservatives on campus pales in comparison to the volume of their liberal counterparts. The study found conservatives are outnumbered by a rate of 7 to 1. In the humanities, that number jumps as high as 15 to 1.
Academia's reaction to the data, however, has led to two very polarized interpretations as to why.
Thomas Reeves, a retired professor of history at UW-Platteville who now works at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, is convinced the disparity among political leanings is the result of the liberal stronghold on higher education and a deliberate intent to maintain it.
He argues the move toward soffering more multi-cultural courses, which in effect have decreased the emphasis on more traditional humanities courses such as history, is evidence of conservative discrimination in the head offices of universities.
"Academia is the last leftist paradise," Reeves said, referencing a quote from a fellow conservative scholar.
"They're going to try to hold on to it as long as they can."
Associate Vice Chancellor Steve Tallant, who oversees the hiring of professors at UW-Eau Claire, attributes the data differently.
"Academia creates an atmosphere that is open and tolerant to different ideas. Not always, but quite often, the type of person who is inclined to dedicate their lives to that would tend to be liberal," he said, though he emphasized knowing conservative faculty members who are open to new ideas as well.
A study conducted by Daniel Klein, an associate professor of economics at Santa Clara University in association with the National Association of Scholars, supports the belief that the number of conservatives on campus pales in comparison to the volume of their liberal counterparts. The study found conservatives are outnumbered by a rate of 7 to 1. In the humanities, that number jumps as high as 15 to 1.
| "Academia is the last leftist paradise." -Thomas Reeves Wisconsin Policy Research Institute |
Academia's reaction to the data, however, has led to two very polarized interpretations as to why.
Thomas Reeves, a retired professor of history at UW-Platteville who now works at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, is convinced the disparity among political leanings is the result of the liberal stronghold on higher education and a deliberate intent to maintain it.
He argues the move toward soffering more multi-cultural courses, which in effect have decreased the emphasis on more traditional humanities courses such as history, is evidence of conservative discrimination in the head offices of universities.
"Academia is the last leftist paradise," Reeves said, referencing a quote from a fellow conservative scholar.
"They're going to try to hold on to it as long as they can."
Associate Vice Chancellor Steve Tallant, who oversees the hiring of professors at UW-Eau Claire, attributes the data differently.
"Academia creates an atmosphere that is open and tolerant to different ideas. Not always, but quite often, the type of person who is inclined to dedicate their lives to that would tend to be liberal," he said, though he emphasized knowing conservative faculty members who are open to new ideas as well.