Democrats outnumber Republican professors 4 to 1 at the University of Central Florida

ANALYSIS: There are about four Democratic professors for every Republican at the University of Central Florida

Republican professors are outnumbered by their Democratic colleagues at the University of Central Florida, though by a smaller margin compared to other universities.

The College Fix identified the affiliation of 117 professors after reviewing a total of 268 professors in the humanities and social sciences programs at Orlando Public University. Fixed obtained Orange County voter registration data through a public records request.

Of the 117 identified voters, 66 are registered Democrats, 16 are Republicans, one is a member of the Green Party, two are independents, one is in the Libertarian Party, and 31 are reported as “No Party Affiliation.” Another 151 could not be identified.

Broken down by the two major parties, 19% of identified teachers are Republicans, while 81% are Democrats.

Fixed looked at 20 public university departments and programs – a breakdown for many of them is listed at the end of the article. However, some programs are small in terms of teachers and are grouped at the end to protect identities. Fixed it only looked at professors, not adjuncts, lecturers, emeritus or employees.

Fixed cross-reference public information such as curriculum vitae and research papers to match names to records. Other information, including estimated year of birth, was compared with birthday data included in electoral statistics.

Professors teaching in more than one department were counted only once in their main discipline to protect their confidentiality and avoid double counting. In some departments there may be overlap, as professors are listed in one department but may teach courses under another major.

The anthropology, English, and sociology departments do not have an identifiable Republican professor.

Interim Chair of Anthropology Ty Majetowsky did not respond to two emails and a reminder message left at the department’s office over the past week. Fixed asked if the results were surprising and captured the overall political climate in the department, if there might be a reason for the disparity, and if he would be interested in looking further into the Republican teacher shortage. There are six registered Democrats but no Republicans in his department.

Sociology professor Jason Ford did not respond to similar questions emailed twice in the past week asking about the department he leads. There are four registered Democrats but no Republicans in his department. An employee transferred a phone call to Ford voicemail on Monday, October 28.

English chairman James Campbell also did not respond to two emailed requests in the past week. A department employee said he said Fixed on the phone would remind Campbell of the questions on Monday, October 28.

Fixed reached out to some teachers who appeared to be registered Republicans to ask for verification of the comments, however, none responded.

One Republican scholar says he “never had a real problem” with his colleagues

One of two identified Republicans in the criminal justice department offered additional comment Fixed by e-mail.

“I’m registered as a Republican, but I’ve also been registered as a Democrat in the past,” said Professor Stephen Holmes. Fixed. “I don’t vote strictly on party, but on the character and principles of the person running.”

“I really don’t talk about it at work,” Holmes said in response to a question about the general climate of conservatives on campus and whether their voices are being heard.

He went on to say:

My relationships at work are based on work products and respect for the rights and opinions of others. However, I will say that often people who are more liberal are more willing to discuss their political beliefs. I guess that’s because they’re in the majority.

Asked about campus trends when it comes to respecting political beliefs, Holmes said, “I don’t like that these things have been brought to campus.”

“I never had a real problem with any of my college mates. I don’t think it’s fair for teachers to identify their personal beliefs,” he said. “I’m an open book. But I don’t consider my conservative leanings radical in any way. I’d rather say I lean to the right, but I can see most issues from both sides.”

Some departments are relatively split – the political science department has three identified Democrats and two identified Republicans.

The Department of Public Administration has four Republicans to two Democrats.

MORE: Check out the campus cancellation culture database

However, the University has had cancellation attempts against teachers.

Assistant instructor Alvin Quackenbush faced a cancellation attempt from Democratic state representative Anna Eskamani in 2020 after she used the term “Wuhan Corona virus” to refer to COVID-19. He survived the ordeal and remains an adjunct in the school of politics, security and international affairs.

Psychology professor Charles Negy had to defeat a revocation after the school tried to fire him, only to have it overturned in arbitration, after he criticized “black privilege.”

Also, the students want History teacher Kenneth Hanson fired for making videos about historical events in which he dresses up as different characters, which sometimes includes darkening his skin.

Still, the university has more Republicans in reviewed departments than other universities in red states. Democratic teachers outnumbered The 7-to-1 University of Florida Republicans, a College fix analysis found. Democrats outnumber Republicans 17 to 1 at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a Fixed analysis concluded.

Fixed chose not to release the spreadsheet with specific names to protect the identities of the Republican teachers.

tear down:

Anthropology:
Dem: 6
Answer: 0
Without affiliation to a party: 1
Unknown: 7

Architecture, Art History, Emerging Media, Games and Interactive Media, Humanities and Cultural Studies, Legal Studies, Photography, Religion and Cultural Studies:
Dem: 7
Answer: 3
Without affiliation to a party: 4
Unknown: 18

Communications:
Dem: 5
Answer: 1
Without affiliation to a party: 2
Unknown: 6

Criminal justice:
Dem: 5
Answer: 2
Without affiliation to a party: 1
Unknown: 11

English:
Dem: 14
Answer: 0
Without affiliation to a party: 2
Unknown: 21

Film and Media:
Dem: 6
Answer: 0
Without affiliation to a party: 1
Unknown: 5

History:
Dem: 6
Answer: 2
India: 1
Without affiliation to a party: 5
Unknown: 14

Philosophy:
Dem: 1
Answer: 0
Without affiliation to a party: 1
Green Party: 1
Libertarian Party: 1
Unknown: 7

Political Science:
Dem: 3
Answer: 2
Without affiliation to a party: 4
Unknown: 11

Psychology:
Dem: 4
Answer: 1
Independent: 1
Without affiliation to a party: 4
Unknown: 20

Public administration:
Dem: 2
Without affiliation to a party: 3
Republican: 4
Unknown: 13

Sociology:
Dem: 4
Answer: 0
Without affiliation to a party: 2
Unknown: 10

Studio art:
Dem: 3
Answer: 1
Without affiliation to a party: 1
Unknown: 6

MORE: Democrats outnumber Republican professors 20 to 1 at NC State U.

IMAGE: University of Central Florida/Instagram

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