All Political Donations from Faculty of MSU’s James Madison College Went to the Left

Author: Brianna Saroli

With another election year just around the corner, concern continues to grow among college conservatives about whether or not there is an increasingly left-of-center political bias.

The Morning Watch investigated the donations from faculty members in MSU’s James Madison College (JMC). JMC is regarded as the political college of Michigan State University. Its benefit to students should be no less than bipartisanship.

View the exported data here.

Investigation took place through the Federal Election Commission (FEC) records for persons listed under the JMC faculty page who were also identified as employees of Michigan State University.

The results show that JMC faculty have been making donations to a multitude of liberal political organizations and individuals between 2017 and 2018. Of all the JMC faculty that donate politically, all donate to left leaning candidates and organizations.

Naturally, professors as private citizens can contribute to whichever political organizations they want to. The important issues is that not one JMC faculty member reported by the FEC through our search from 2017-2018, donated to a conservative cause.

The groups that were donated to include: Act Blue, Elissa Slotkin for Congress, MoveOn Political Action, Stabenow for US Senate, and Gretchen Driskell for Congress.

Seven faculty members have donated over $3,500 to only left leaning groups. One faculty member donated $1,800 over two years.

Studies have shown a skewed ratio favoring left leaning ideology and faculty on campuses, and based on our findings, MSU is no exception.

The Washington Times explained “there are only 4.5 liberal professors for every conservative.” Furthermore, history classes appear the most biased, “where liberals outnumber conservatives by a 33 1/2-to-1 ratio.” These statistics are from a 2016 study published on Econ Journal Watch.

Another study, broadcasted by The Times Leader, examined the greater impact of Democrats or left leaning professors in most fields. Langbert’s survey about classes “found that the ratio of Democrats to Republicans is 70 to one” in religious classes. Furthermore, “in music, it is 33 to one. In biology, it is 21 to one. In philosophy, history and psychology, it is 17 to 1. In political science, it is 8 to 1.”

Many other studies have been done in the last decade that show this fairly new trend.

Researching donations records is just one way we have determined the political position of the JMC faculty and the lack of the conservative voice in the current campus climate.

Contributor: Brianna Saroli

This story was updated 8/21/2019.