We recently discussed how Yale faculty reached academic nirvana after years of purging departments of conservatives and Republicans. The university finally showed zero political donations to Republicans. Now Princeton can claim that it has succeeded in a similar cleansing, according to a new study by Princetonians for Free Speech (PFS). The study shows that 98% of political donations went to Democrats or Democrat-affiliated groups and 0% went to Republicans or affiliated groups.
Political contributions are one measure that helps gauge the degree of ideological orthodoxy and intolerance in higher education. While some academics simply do not make contributions and may still hold conservative views, the study still offers another insight into the political preferences of those who do make such contributions. The study does not mean that we can assume that the number of academics with conservative or libertarian values is zero. (There are obvious outliers such as Robby George). However, few would dispute that it reaffirms the extreme imbalance of ideological views at this and other universities.
Professors often express shock at the thought that there would be any political or ideological litmus test for hiring. I have also opposed such measures. However, the hypocrisy is crushing. Today’s faculty are responsible for a near-complete ideological purging of their ranks. They have created a hostile environment for anyone with conservative or libertarian viewpoints, including students who rarely have the opportunity to hear from a professor from a center-right perspective at most schools.
Most recently, forty percent of college faculty admitted that they would vote against any Trump supporter seeking an academic position regardless of their scholarship or teaching ability. Keep in mind that this is only the professors willing to admit to such bias.
Some are more open than others.
I had dinner with a Harvard Law Professor, who expressed disbelief that I expected him to vote for any faculty applicants who held views he considered wrong. When I noted that I regularly vote for faculty candidates who hold opposing views, he just shrugged and said that, if he rejects their views, he cannot vote for those views to be taught to students.
There are few remaining conservatives or libertarians on law school faculties, which have been purged of dissenting voices through a biased hiring and promotion system. Despite years of complaints and declining public trust in higher education, faculty members continue to reinforce bias and orthodoxy in our schools.
I wrote about the rise of this new McCarthyism on the left seven years ago.
Recently, I discussed the example of Fordham University School of Law professor John Pfaff, who called for “repercussions” for professors who do not “recant” their view that the 14th Amendment does not protect birthright citizenship.
Not long ago, I debated Professor Randall Kennedy at Harvard Law School about the school’s lack of ideological diversity. I respect Kennedy, and I do not view him as anti-free speech or intolerant. Yet when I noted the statistics on the vanishing number of conservative students and faculty in comparison to the nation, Kennedy responded that Harvard “is an elite university” and does not have to “look like America.”
Of course, the problem is that Harvard does not even look like Massachusetts, which is nearly 30 percent Republican.
At schools like Yale and Princeton, they have achieved near 100% for Democrats (with only a couple of percent going for independent or socialist causes). Yet, if you ask faculty about the purging of their ranks, they will often shrug and say that they just cannot find a conservative or libertarian who is intellectually worthy of an appointment to their schools. It was the same absurd rationalization that was once used to justify not hiring minorities or women.
I just had a debate with a William & Mary law professor who admitted there is no other rational explanation for the virtual absence of conservatives and libertarians than systemic bias. Indeed, if a company were to go to court to say that there was nothing intentional in a virtual absence of minority employees, it would be laughed out of court.
Of course, nothing is laughable about the state of higher education. This generation of administrators and faculty are destroying our educational institutions because they cannot set aside their political bias and intolerance for the benefit of their schools. Higher education has reached record lows in public trust. Yet, these professors and deans are insulated from such public opinion. They are often financially insulated from the economic impact of such isolation. In higher education, the echo chamber works to their personal benefit, increasing their opportunities for writing and conferences. They also do not face opposing views of their scholarship or viewpoints.
Recently, I participated in a debate with the President of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). He doubled down on his call for universities to pursue more political agendas and activism. AAUP later broke its long-standing apolitical tradition and endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.
This is why I have advised university presidents who want to restore intellectual diversity that they cannot rely on faculty members. With enough donor and faculty pressure, deans may add a single conservative, but they have shown they are unwilling to make real changes to the academic echo chamber they have created.
In the same way, I have encouraged state legislatures to tie further public subsidies to real and substantial changes in creating intellectual diversity among faculty.
If we are to protect these bastions of free speech, legislatures will need to play a more active role in addressing the exclusion of both faculty candidates and speakers on public campuses. Too many faculty members still take the view that citizens are a captive audience expected to keep funding their departments, while excluding conservative or dissenting views held by many, if not most, citizens in a given state.
If faculty members want to maintain echo chambers for their own viewpoints, they should seek private donors to sustain such intolerance and orthodoxy.
Legislatures can demand evidence that schools maintain intellectually diverse faculty when determining the level of continued support from citizens. Otherwise, it is ridiculous to expect the public to subsidize their ideological echo chambers of faculty.
For schools like Princeton, donors clearly do not want or expect intellectual diversity. They keep donating to a school that has systematically purged its ranks and now runs from the left to the far left.
As these surveys confirm what we already know about the intellectual intolerance of today’s faculty and administrators, they can at least spare us the performative denials. They should embrace their bias and dogmatism. Own it. This is what they have built through years of ideological agendas and intolerance.
After all, how many academic institutions can claim true perfection? Princeton is effectively a closed shop for Republicans. “Rah rah rah Tiger, tiger, tiger / Sis, sis, sis / Boom, boom, boom, ah! / Princeton! Princeton! Princeton!”
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Well I feel kind of sorry for these students who attend these universities. A lot of experiences that they will never have and they will be unprepared for the world at large which has a tendency to crush your carefully conceived egos. Although i have my own views, we all advance by encountering other views and then engage in the time honored process of stealing those views and using them as our own. It has happened often enough in the US and also elsewhere.
Also the Ivy League is not the only game in town. Universities across the South and Midwest are bursting with higher enrollments and the money that has followed the businesses to those same areas are investing there in all sorts of new and expanded programs.
Recent report on enrollments at Purdue University shows 111,000 students at all their campuses, 13 % increase in new freshman at the main campus and progressively high completion and graduation rates. There is a building boom around the main campus as more and more 8-10 story private and university residences are being built and the surrounding towns and businesses are bursting at their seams. And all these new license plates like California, New York, Georgia (even) are showing up.
So it’s all refreshing here and a 10 minute drive and you are in fields of corn, soybean and farm houses with fiberoptic internet, running water, indoor plumbing even and no recent raids by indigenous peoples. Bring your musket with you and you should be safe but be polite please.
Two 30 year old family members are Princeton/Penn graduates. They are intelligent and very well prepared for the world. They hold prestigious positions and provide hope for the future of our country.
GEB,
Well said.
The Ivy league title no long carries the weight it once did. The students are no long the best and the brightest. They are the most indoctrinated.
Stupid comment as usual. Did you mean “no longer” instead of “no long” Ya see folks, this is the MAGAot level of smarts. The guy doesn’t have a high school diploma. Typical MAGAot, dumb and willfully ignorant. Ask him about the “Magna Carter”.
It’s more likely that no one admits to being Republican. Who wants to publicly being in favor of war, data centers, and hiding the Epstein Files? Of course, you can rail against the .003% of the Democratic Party in the DSA and the even smaller percentage of Transgender athletes. Let me know when you get your $5,000 check.
Bill Clinton is all for hiding of the Epstein files.
Flight logs show Bill Clinton flew on sex offender’s jet much more than previously known
https://www.foxnews.com/us/flight-logs-show-bill-clinton-flew-on-sex-offenders-jet-much-more-than-previously-known
“Former President Bill Clinton was a much more frequent flyer on a registered sex offender’s infamous jet than previously reported, with flight logs showing the former president taking at least 26 trips aboard the “Lolita Express” — even apparently ditching his Secret Service detail for at least five of the flights, according to records obtained by FoxNews.com.”
So was Trump. But he’s busy having the DOJ hiding the truth.
Trump’s DOJ is spending a LOT of time preventing the full release of the files. Reneged on his promise to MAGA. Remember, It was MAGA who wanted the files released.
Ya got any evidence to back that up bud
No X doesn’t have any evidence. Every comment made by him/ her/it/ etc., is always full of conclusions, unsupported by underlying facts, speculation and mind reading. And, don’t forget J6 was an “insurrection,” though none of the J6 defendants was charged with, nor plead guilty to a charge of insurrection. From the mouth of X comes nothing but unhinged vomit.
Trump hitched a few rides between Palm Beach and Teterboro with Epstein
Bill Clinton toured Africa with Epstein — TWICE.
In fact, Epstein flew Billy Jeff to every continent but South America and Australia.
Antarctica?
Bill Clinton’s official position is that the DOJ should release all remaining Epstein files, fully and at once, to avoid insinuation, selective framing, or political weaponization.
Donald Trump’s official position is that the Epstein Files are a hoax. Todd Blanche is facing contempt citations for refusing to release material ordered by a judge.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/judge-gives-blanche-deadline-warns-of-possible-contempt-charges-over-epstein-files/ar-AA2crYR3?ocid=BingNewsSerp
You can try to deflect if you want to.
Don’t care. Publish them all. get testimony from the victims. Find out who sexually assaulted the girls. Put the ones who did in prison.
And what exactly do you support?
Biden and Garland hid the Epstein files for four long years. And whatever happened to the Epstein client list? Did Garland put it through the shredder?
They didn’t release information that was part of an ongoing investigation, which is the judicial standard in the USA.
I wonder how many proud Capitalistic parents have sent their kids to one of these expensive schools only to be turned on by those same kids. Parents need to stop; then the schools will stop.
Disaffected donors should redirect their contributions to Hillsdale College.
Lotta moneyed in middle east. Stop foreign donors.
The modern left are fascists, period. Let’s hope woke is indeed dying before we found ourselves being labelled ‘criminals’ for having the audacity to employ personal thought and reason.
James,
Well, since I have been in college, I have not seen anything remotely “woke” like.
Some of what some of these young students are wearing to class is mildly shocking.
Zero support for republicans? They’ve seen the light.
That is not light.
That is the darkness of a closed mind.
We see it when they put on full display of their hate of anything that goes against their policies. You know, like assassinating Charlie Kirk. Their hate of women. Their hate of anyone successful.
This clearly demonstrates the Democrat Party has abandoned its traditional and historical ties to the poor and working class. It long ago adopted the policy preferences of the academic fruitcakes over average, ordinary Americans.
The poor, uneducated, illegal aliens, minorities, and illiterate college students are just tools to be used by the Dems/libs/progressives/ and now the socialist/communist to keep and maintain power.
Obtain power maj229 not to keep it. The shedding has begun.
It’s what happens when you put the locomotive at the end of the train.
I wonder how many of those bloviating, and hating on conservatives would feel if the situation were reversed, and no liberal professors were hired.
Got any facts you want to share?
At least they get to conduct thier circle jerks and mental masturbation in a clean, communist, fascist, fashion.
This here comemnt folks is the essence of the MAGA mind. And liberals are the sick ones?
Well, Cletus, it ain’t MAGAs that are strangling their children, supporting hammas terrorists trying to carry out hitler’s wishes, and assassinating anyone that disagrees, oh, and idealogical cleansing of our ‘higher institutions of critical thinking.’
Well, you clearly never went to Princeton, or even made it into the Fourth Grade with that level of literacy… “hammas”, “hitler’s”, “idealogical”…
I have always thought, the criticism of spelling or punctuation errors rather than the content of the message was a sign of someones personal perceived intellectual inferiority, yours is just another example.
Well, sweetie, you would, since you are too illiterate to use apostrophes… I have no personal perception of intellectual inferiority, least of all when reading all the MAGA nonsense on here.
Go back to school and learn proper punctuation.
Golfishgrace/Flounder, fat, dumb and stupid is no way to through life, son.
Aren’t these the voices who cry out and support diversity, equity and inclusion? Oh, but not here, not in our workplace.
Yes, kinda like Mao and Marx.
Not in our … actually not. But feel free to disprove it.
you idiot. disprove that
Typically that is concerning social small minorities – conservatives are not a small minority in society. They now own close to 60% of all broadcast networks; it may be higher. If anyone is missing a conservative message there are a great number of conservative stations to tune into.
Ano
Wanna bet the commenter has never been to NK?
__________________________
Have you?
Bet not, but thanks to some of the people who were able to escape that nightmare of a country.
They have told the world what that place is like.
Keep crying.
Well Dustoff… have you been to NK? And have you ever met a North Koren?
Who is they? Got names and sources?
No to all of the above.
PS. Ever kill Vietnamese civilians? maybe children? Answer: You bragged about here.
DustOff never bragged about anything here. Just more of your made up lies. It is all you have. Lies.
You really have some mental problems. You can’t express yourself without hate. I understand you have been terribly hurt in life. You don’t have to live in hate, there is help available. See a mental health professional. Also seek Jesus Christ. He can give you healing and peace. I will pray for you, for your finding Christ, your healing and for you to shed your hate and find some peace in your chaotic hate filled current life. God loves you, and forgives everything.
Yep, I’m hoping to be rescued and if not then it wasn’t in the cards.
I meant to add (before my comment was accidently submitted) that Professor George’s Madison program at Princeton has inspired the creation of similar programs at many other universities across the country.
You’re not wrong, but just because someone doesn’t contribute to a political party or candidate in ways that show up in disclosure forms doesn’t mean they’re not conservative. Princeton professor Robert “Robby” George is arguably the most prominent conservative professor teaching undergraduates founded the James Madison program there
Princeton’s motto — Dei Sub Numine Viget (“Under God’s Power She Flourishes”) — should be amended to read “Rational Thinkers Need Not Apply.” The refined hypocrisy and academic rot is on full display.
Are you suggesting that only MAGAots are “rational thinkers? Please read the comments as they come in this morning. Better still, read the previous day’s comments. Rational? Hardly. Idiotic more like it.
Republicans are the party of reason and the democrats are the party of emotion. We learn this in kindergarten here in America.
and I read them all and I still think you are the one with the problem. Ask yourself this: Did posting your comment give you a cathartic rush?
Obviously if that’s all you learned was just kindergarten level politics, that explains why your comment reeks of ignorance and stupidity. Thank yo for your input.
Under allas power she flourishes?
God is rational, logical.
Oops, my comment is not an endorsement of alla.
Alla is peas. It’s a religion of peas and 🥕. 😂
I hope they’re not receiving any federal aid because that would be illegal. They are supposed to be non-partisan.
Well ya, no shit. Universities are about academics, education, and study. Truth. Republicans are fact denying fascists. They have no place in universities.
The woke university implosion — and what comes next
Over the last 30 years, enrollments in the humanities and history crashed. So did tenure-track faculty positions. Some $1.7 trillion in federally backed student loans have only greenlighted inflated tuition — and masked the contagion of political indoctrination and watered-down courses.
But “gradually” imploding has now become “suddenly.” Zoom courses, a declining pool of students and soaring costs all prompt the public to question the college experience altogether.
See Also
Stanford logo
editorial
‘Living hell’ and the destruction of academic freedom
Nationwide undergraduate enrollment has dropped by more than 650,000 students in a single year — or over 4% alone from spring 2021 to 2022, and some 14% in the last decade. Yet the US population still increases by about 2 million people a year.
Men account for about 71% of the current shortfall of students. Women number almost 60% of all college students — an all-time high.
Monotonous professors hector students about “toxic masculinity,” as “gender” studies proliferate. If the plan was to drive males off campus, universities have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations.
The number of history majors has collapsed by 50% in just the last 20 years. Tenured history positions have declined by one-third to half at major state universities.
Skeptical American employers, to remain globally competitive, will likely soon administer their own hiring tests. They already suspect that prestigious university degrees are hollow and certify very little.
Private and online venues will also fill a national need to teach Western civilization and humanities courses — by non-woke faculty who do not institutionalize bias.
Wokeness is dying, good riddance and real science is taking it’s proper place in college studies again.you
Everyday you prove yourself the fool.
Sally, could you post more screed? your daily sentence or two is going to keep X at the top of the slipping stats. We have the need, the need for more screed. Also. You have never posted a SINGLE fact. Go back, re-read your comments. No facts, just your emotional release in the form of screed. It’s eating you up isn’t it? Start to fret later in the day and can’t get it off your mind? Then, your mind races for screed? Gotta get it out of you!
Hey Sally it looks like a delusional MAGAot is hitting on you. He thinks he’s a psychologist, but most likely a MAGA-feminist psychopath, aka MAGA Soyboy.
YES! Sally, this is the kind of screed I was suggesting and we all need. 8.1/10 on the rage and cathartic release. feel better Publicly Silly Announcer?
I’m hoping there’s still more screed in you, let’s go dopey. Post. I’ll explore your psyche next. Now lie down and tell us about your mother.
You could not be more wrong.
In the classes I am taking, most of us who are studying hard and passing, most lean to the right. Sure, there are those with the “high school” mentality, the goof offs. I do not think they have a political view point. The only thing they are concerned about is where the party this weekend is.
The rest of us, we are paying to be there, to learn, to get good grades.
These universities should be immediately cut off from any government funding. Immediately subject to taxes. Immediately be shunned by anyone who is in opposition to the Leftards running and teaching in these abominable institutions. And perhaps investigated by the DOJ for discrimination, on many different accounts!
Another MAGA idiot with zero knowledge of how the federal government funds education. Kill universities says the MAGAots!
Only the rotten ones. Not all. You seem unable to read and comprehend, Not unusual in low IQ people.
So says a low IQ rotten one.
Well please elighten us oh screedy one.
Student loans are Federally funded. The courts have ruled any college accepting students with Federal loans are subject to Title IX because they are funded by the government (even private schools), so ALL universities that accept students with loans or government grants (such as Pell) are Federally funded. We simply need to pass legislation similar to Title IX forcing schools to have a diversity of opinions on the allocation of government funds.
Congratulations to Princeton for reaching North Korean Parliament-level conformity. All opposing viewpoints have been eliminated. The faculty is now free to impose their uniform views on students, who will be punished for challenging the opinions of professors, just like all Fascists have done in the past. Leftwing Fascists carry on the ideological tradition.
I wonder what kind of warrior this commenter thinks it is?
Wanna bet the commenter has never been to NK?
So why is it that ignorant MAGAots have a fixation with NK?
Just like the NK’s, MAGA wants to impose its views on students.
You have to understand that North Korea is actually the MAGA wet dream: one Party rule under a semi-divine Great Navigator, who manages the economy so well that the price of eggs goes down and everything else goes up, where he would rather pay for imported food his corrupt friends than support domestic farmers, who surrounds himself with sycophantic drunkards and family members rather than competent individuals, spits on legal and constitutional frameworks, and thinks a mass murderer like Putin is a great mate. The only difference is that thus far the Kim family have never obviously dyed themselves orange with fake tan.
What a screwed up world-view you have. No wonder you’re insane, you have no grip on reality even after it slaps you repeatedly.
I am not insane. If you voted for the Orange Shitgibbon, however, you might be in need of help. Definitely the case if you are going to double down and vote Republican on 3 November.
Unhinged
Yes, Trump is indeed unhinged. Why do you listen to him?
Which party has come out and said they want to get rid of the presidency, the Senate, pack the SC, and pass laws to make sure they never lose an election again aka one party rule?
Who was it who said, “Just do it!” (hint: James Carville)
James Carville does not a party make.
My frugal mother was an expert at feeding our family with ground beef cooked five different ways.
Repeated droughts reducec the cattle population to the lowest in 75 years.
Trump merely wants to import enough ground beef so that frugal mothers can feed their families.
Impose? That’s what “academia” is doing now. We’d simply like a seat in the lounge and the ability to share our ideas.
BTW, the accepted spelling is MAGAts.