{"id":133653,"date":"2023-09-08T00:02:30","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T04:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=133653"},"modified":"2023-09-08T15:55:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T19:55:54","slug":"politically-polarized-universities-alienate-republican-professor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/politically-polarized-universities-alienate-republican-professor\/","title":{"rendered":"Politically polarized universities alienate Republicans, professor says"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATED<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

‘Those on the right are increasingly disliked and viewed as enemies when they are on campuses today,’ political science professor says<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

About twice as many Democrats as Republicans \u201cstrongly agree\u201d that public four-year colleges and universities are \u201cfor people like me,\u201d according to a new survey.<\/p>\n

Forty-four percent of Democrats surveyed \u201cstrongly agreed\u201d that public four-year colleges and universities are for people like them, according to Varying Degrees 2023<\/a>, the nonprofit New America’s seventh annual higher education survey.<\/p>\n

Only 21 percent of surveyed Republicans “strongly agreed.”<\/p>\n

Sarah Lawrence College political science Professor Samuel Abrams said he believes the findings are in part due to political polarization.<\/p>\n

Polarization \u201cis the phenomenon where individuals’ feelings and emotions towards members of their own political party or group become more positive, while their feelings towards members of the opposing party or group become more negative,” Abrams told The College Fix<\/em> via email.<\/p>\n

Because of left-leaning polarization in colleges and universities, \u201cthose on the right are increasingly disliked and viewed as enemies when they are on campuses today,\u201d said Abrams, a fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessors and administrators are among the most engaged, politically active members of society,\u201d Abrams said. \u201cThey tend to be left-of-center and extremely progressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fix<\/em> reached out to New America, the nonprofit behind the survey, to ask why results are so polarized along political affiliation and whether this corresponds to other research they have done. The nonprofit responded but has not yet provided comment.<\/p>\n

There are \u201cmany potential answers\u201d to the question of promoting intellectual and political diversity in schools, Abrams said.<\/p>\n

First, colleges and universities \u201cneed to knock down diversity, equity, and inclusion offices which are little more than political offices pushing a leftist agenda,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Second, schools \u201cneed to actually demonstrate a real commitment to open debate and viewpoint diversity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Schools should \u201cmake sure that there is a diversity of programs that represent a plethora of views on campus and ensure that students can openly question and probe ideas that some may find objectionable.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Abrams said: \u201cSchools can make strong public statements and positions that support free speech and then actually defend speech by pushing back against the forces which try to intimidate speech and silence dissent.\u201d<\/p>\n

New America, which authored the survey, is a Washington, D.C.-based policy research nonprofit that “put[s] equity at the center” of every part of its work, according to its website.<\/a><\/p>\n

MORE: More women than men are liberal, and that means trouble for marriage: scholars<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IMAGE: American Enterprise Institute<\/p>\n

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