American colleges and universities are not congenial places for people who believe in limited government, private property, and individual responsibility. Overwhelmingly, the faculty and staff are leftists who demand an ever-growing state and loathe dissenters.
In today’s Martin Center article, Harrington Shaw looks at party affiliations in the UNC system and, not surprisingly, finds that Democrats are the huge favorite. Political donations went to the Democrats at a 20-to-one ratio in the last two election cycles.
Shaw adds, “OpenSecrets data also show significant lobbying activity by the UNC System between 2019 and 2022. Driven primarily by spending from UNC-Chapel Hill, the UNC System lobbied extensively for the American Rescue Plan, the nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed on strictly partisan lines in 2021. The bill included nearly $40 billion in grants for higher-education institutions.”
Moreover, many of the Democratic donations went to out-of-state races.
Shaw concludes, “Our universities must act urgently to counteract snowballing political orthodoxy. They must make it clear that diverse viewpoints are welcome, that academic freedom will be protected, and that civil discourse is an essential element of education. They must ensure that the hiring and tenure-awarding processes are free of political bias.”