99% of Political Donations from UW-Madison Faculty Go To Democrats

One professor says that “DEI efforts are not accomplishing their stated goals"

A recent report from the Badger Institute found that the “odds of a UW-Madison pre-tenured professor’s political donation going to [a] Republican are only 1 in 490.”

When looking specifically at faculty in the humanities and social sciences, “the odds of finding a Republican donor fall to just 1 in 530.”

Moreover, “over 99% of political dollars contributed by UW faculty went to Democrats and left-wing groups over the past decade.”

The study was performed by political science professors Alexander Tahk and Ryan Owens, who is now a professor at Florida State University.

Tahk, in an interview with The Madison Federalist, compared this study to a 2023 survey that found only 13.4% of UW-Madison students identify as Republicans. He noted that the fraction of conservative students is still “substantially higher than the fraction of conservative faculty (~1% of faculty).”

“If students don’t feel free to express their opinions—and, perhaps more importantly, to question the prevailing opinion—we are…not presenting a range of views or not presenting them fairly.” 

While the university has invested considerable resources into diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in recent years, Tahk said “DEI efforts are not accomplishing their stated goals if they reinforce campus orthodoxy or even if they simply do nothing to improve viewpoint diversity and the climate for those whose views are outside campus orthodoxy…and narrowly limiting the range of acceptable views is hardly equitable, especially when doing so starts infringing on rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression.”

He noted that university institutions, such as the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy and the Tommy G. Thompson Center for Public Leadership, are working to improve the campus climate.

Tahk, director of the Thompson Center, said it recently started “a Bridging the Divide program to create opportunities for students to discuss political topics with other students in a small group setting—with free food.”

However, Professor Tahk still believes that students are better positioned to make a change on campus through organizations like College Republicans, Young Americans for Freedom, or The Madison Federalist.

Owens recently told The College Fix, “there is not enough intellectual or ideological diversity on campus” and that UW-Madison is a “toxic environment for conservatives.”

The College Republicans of UW-Madison told The Madison Federalist that “these results are not surprising. This is one of the most progressive campuses in the country and the university has shown little interest in increasing ideological diversity for decades.”

Courtney Graves, chair of Wisconsin YAF, said, “I know many students who are scared to share their opinions in class, not because they fear social isolation, but because they fear retribution from their professors.”

“UW needs to do more to increase conservative representation on its faculty.”

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