“Liberal student groups at Miami University outnumber conservative groups by nine to seven,” a news release from the group claims. “The political leanings of university professors are similarly biased. Specifically, the school’s faculty and staff gave 95 percent of their political donations to Democratic candidates and a mere 5 percent to Republicans in the 2008 presidential election.”
Miami University spokeswoman Claire Wagner in response to the report said, “Part of the premise of a university campus is that we learn from each other’s differences and experiences, in class and out of class. With about 400 student groups on campus, Miami supports opportunities for students to get involved in organizations that fulfill their passion, whatever it is – academic, social, political, cultural, religious, athletic, service and many more.”
CampusReform.org has individual pages for universities which invite users to rate “leftist faculty,” “report leftist abuse” or “support a reformer.” The website is under the Leadership Institute, which “recruits, trains and places conservatives in government, politics, and the media,” according to CampusReform.org.
The CampusReform.org report claim about Miami faculty does not come as a surprise to Rachel Schwegman, president of the College Republicans chapter at Miami.
“I think it’s common knowledge we have a left-leaning campus, at least among professors,” Schwegman said, noting political leanings among professors differ from department to department.
She said the political leanings of professors are not an issue.
“It’s not a problem at all. Everyone has their own view and we respect everyone for them,” she said. “Professors can voice their own views and it’s fine because we can voice our own views as students.”
Schwegman, a political science student, said she has felt attacked by a professor once during a class discussion on politics. “It kind of got out of hand,” she said, but added “it’s fine, it’s politics.”
“Miami’s still a great campus,” she said. “We have great professors that give us a great degree.”
The full profile of Miami University is available online: http://muohio.campusreform.org/group/81/blog/78-miami-university-of-ohio
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