Boston has always been recognized as a predominantly Democratic community. Influential Democrats at the forefront of Massachusetts’s politics in recent years include, but of course are not limited to, John F. Kennedy, Deval Patrick, and Martha Coakley.
However, with the surprising election of Republican Scott Brown to the United States Senate seat previously occupied by Ted Kennedy, it appears Massachusetts can no longer be characterized as a homogenously Democratic state.
In light of such a surprising election, the analysis of donations made by Boston College professors to both the Democratic and Republican parties seems relevant. Considering the prevalence of Democratic party support on college campuses, one would expect professors to lean toward said party, yet with the reemergence of Republican support in Massachusetts, one would logically anticipate a rise in donations to the Republican party.
According to Leigha Caron, Campus Leadership Coordinator at the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia, a total of $82,504 was given to both political parties by individuals who specified Boston College as their employer university: $5,257 was contributed to the Republican party by 5 professors (6% of total), whereas $77,247 was contributed to the Democratic party by 104 professors (94% of total).
Reflecting on the statistics, Associate professor Dennis Hale of the Boston College Political Science Department said, “Speaking as one of the five who gave to Republicans, I’m not surprised.” He went on to explain that, at most colleges and universities across the country, one would find numbers “much in line” with those at Boston College. He affirmed, though, “These numbers of course have no relation to ‘Boston’ or ‘Massachusetts,’ but reflect simply the views of college professors.”
Though Massachusetts is generally considered Democratic, Hale stressed that “the country as a whole will go back and forth between the two parties.” As evident with Scott Brown’s election, Massachusetts is as much Republican as Democratic, which further proves the misrepresentation of political views on most college campuses, including BC. Hale encouraged college teachers “to get out more” and reevaluate their political viewpoints.
When shown the figures provided by Leigha Caron, John Miller of the National Review reacted in a similar fashion as did Hale. Unsurprised by the BC data, he detailed, “William F. Buckley Jr. once said that he would rather be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the 2,000 members of Harvard’s faculty. I suppose the same principle applies to Boston College.”
Miller affirmed that, though professors constantly uphold their love of diversity, “when it comes to their own intellectual lives…they crave uniformity.” One might suspect Miller to share in Hale’s opinion of professors’ need to further explore their political perspectives.
Matt Vigliotta, Treasurer of the BC Republicans, also commented on the striking disparity of the donations given to the two parties: “A lot of that has to do with that fact that Massachusetts traditionally votes for Democrats; I’d say it’s almost cultural.”
He too cited the January Scott Brown election as proof that Massachusetts is not quite as far left as one would guess when looking at the BC donation statistics. He suggested that Republican supporters should “publicize [the donation figures] so that people are aware of it” and thus heighten the BC community’s political awareness. In doing so, perhaps Republican professors would be more inclined to donate to their party.
However, Vigliotta remarked, “I can tell you that as a member of the E-board for the College Republicans at BC I have found a lot of support from many professors who were willing to go above and beyond. ” Clearly, there do exist plenty of vocal Republicans on the BC campus, a fact that is deceivingly hidden by the overwhelming sum given to the Democratic Party by BC professors.
Though the Boston College community boasts two successful political student organizations, the College Democrats of Boston College and the Boston College Republicans, the staggering amount given to the Democratic Party by BC professors reflects a rather unbalanced political community on the part of the faculty. Perhaps, upon viewing these figures, faculty members will become more politically vocal, and, with hope, the political community on campus will consequently become more dynamic and lose its homogeneity.
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