Is there political diversity at Harvard University? Apparently not, according to an annual survey of faculty staff conducted by The Crimson, the school’s student newspaper.
“More than 80% of Harvard faculty respondents characterized their political leanings as ‘liberal’ or ‘very liberal.’ A little over 37% of faculty respondents identified as ‘very liberal’ — a nearly 8 percentage point jump from last year. Only 1% of respondents stated they are ‘conservative,’ and no respondents identified as ‘very conservative’,” the publication said in its own analysis of the findings.
A slim percentage — 16% — said they were politically moderate.
“When asked whether they would support increasing ideological diversity among faculty by hiring more conservative-leaning professors, only a quarter of respondents were in support. In contrast, 31% opposed hiring conservative professors to increase ideological diversity, while 44% of respondents said that they neither supported or opposed it,” the analysis said.
A majority of the faculty members were also uneasy with the idea that anyone who worked in former President Donald Trump’s administration join their ranks.
The survey found that 56% of the faculty would support “extra vetting” for any officials from Mr. Trump’s team, while 30% would bar former Trump administration officials from the teaching staff altogether.
The Crimson survey of 476 members of the Harvard faculty was conducted April 11-26 and released Wednesday. Find the survey at TheCrimson.com.
