The College Fix

ANALYSIS: Conservative political scientist Ryan Owens says former university has ‘toxic environment’ for Republicans

There is a “toxic environment for conservatives” that University of Wisconsin-Madison “must clean up,” according to a former professor.

Ryan Owens joined Florida State University for this new school year after teaching at UW-Madison for more than a decade. He spoke further to The College Fix via email about why he left for a new job as the director of the Institute for Governance and Civics at FSU.

Owens said “there’s lots of room for improvement” at Wisconsin’s flagship state university, but added that “with constant effort and strong leadership, we can change the culture of higher education.”

“There is not enough intellectual or ideological diversity on campus,” Owens said. “The consequence is that a groupthink has taken hold and now perpetuates itself.”

Owens is a double graduate of UW-Madison, earning his undergrad and law degree from there.

According to an analysis by Owens and UW-Madison political science professor Alexander Tahk, more than 99% of political donations from the university’s faculty between 2011 and 2022 went to Democrats or liberal groups. A separate analysis of 2022 data by The Fix found a similar result.

“Professors are about five times more likely to donate than the average person,” Owens said. “That almost every single donated faculty dollar at the federal level went to one ideological perspective reveals that the UW is way out of balance.”

He said “nothing will change on that campus unless leaders do the work to open it up to people who think differently, welcome them, and commit to their importance at the university.”

“There are solutions for UW-Madison and other universities, but they require strong and dogged leadership,” Owens said. “We need hard-charging Regents and Chancellors who are not afraid to make changes.”

Owens is “working to create a program that will, among other things, revive civic awareness, showcase intellectual diversity, and model civic behavior.”

“The IGC will combine theory, practice, and technical expertise to connect America’s Founding principles with contemporary American civic life,” Owens told The Fix. “We will examine the best means of educating and persuading Floridians to understand and apply America’s Founding principles.”

He praised his new employer, saying that “the FSU leadership is committed to making effective citizens who understand their rights and liberties, discuss and debate them like adults, and appreciate that political differences are good in a healthy republic.”

He said he was “amazed at how welcoming and friendly the people were” during the interviews.” He said he has been “impressed” with the university and its leaders.

Owens also said “the leadership and the state legislature are dedicated to high quality education while keeping tuition costs low for students.”

He said:

The annual in-state tuition for Florida State is remarkably low—just under $6,500. (By comparison, UW-Madison’s annual in-state tuition is $11,603.) FSU is ranked 21st among public universities and is constantly climbing in the rankings. Its low cost plus the high quality of education is about the best deal a person can get.

“I want my sons to attend FSU. I would recommend my friends’ children attend FSU,” Owens said. “I just can’t say that about most other universities today.”

UW-Madison declined to comment on Owens’ departure and criticism. “We don’t have a comment on the views of a former faculty member,” spokesman John Lucas told The Fix via email.

Universities should do more to recruit conservatives, Owens says

One way to change the environment is to ensure conservative students see higher education as a potential career, the Florida State University professor said. Leaders can do this by “undertak[ing] greater efforts” to “reach out” to conservative students.

“They must do the same for prospective faculty when it comes to recruiting,” Owens said. “No reasonable person today would accept a higher education system that discriminates on the basis of race or sex. Nor should we tolerate a system that so failingly lacks intellectual diversity. Universities need to work to make it happen.”

Red state public universities regularly lack Republican professors in humanities departments, including history, political science, and philosophy, as numerous College Fix articles have shown.

Numerous College Fix reports of public universities in red states have found a lack of Republican professors in humanities departments, including history, political science, and philosophy.

Owens proposed “an annual conference geared toward center-right and conservative students who are thinking about higher education” to “show them what higher education is and how they can succeed in it.”

“Department chairs and graduate program coordinators need to do more to enhance a culture of free speech on campus as well,” he said.

“The things progressive graduate students say (and do) to conservative students on campus is absurd,” Owens said. Conservatives and center-right students (not to mention liberal institutionalists) should not have to feel embattled.”

He said further:

Setting the right example comes from the top. When chairs and others hear about bad behavior, they cannot ignore it. They must publicly and swiftly denounce bad actions and punish bad actors. But all too often, university leaders pretend as though there is no progressive orthodoxy that needs to be addressed.

Another solution he proposed was to make class syllabi publicly available. He said that “as public institutions, universities should show what they are teaching students. It might even help the university explain more clearly what it does in a way that generates public support.”

Higher ed needs reforms in general

Beyond just the political diversity issue, universities have a broader issue with student loan debt and the value of college, Owens said.

Owens said universities “should do more to inform students of their job prospects. Students should be clear-eyed about the probability that they will get jobs in their fields and how much they can expect to earn.”

“They should have more information about that before they take out student loans and again before they select majors. That might help students select majors in areas that are more practical and less governed by activism—presumably they will pay better.”

Furthermore, he suggested that “universities could be judged more comprehensively on how their students later perform on the job market and how much debt they carry. Right now, universities have an incentive to offer whatever faddish topics students want—and there is little cost to them for doing so.”

This leads to students borrowing more but earning “less” and then demanding a bailout, Owens said.

Owens suggested that “one method of changing the culture of higher education is to hire a non-traditional leader to helm the university. Bringing in private sector folks to lead can generate fresh excitement and a different way of thinking.”

“If we seek to change the culture of higher education, we need to look outside the existing culture,” he said.

He believes higher education needs “reform” because it “is important for the future of our country. That is why he is adamant about promoting “civic skills and “civic knowledge.”

“As I see it, we have two choices: We can sleepwalk toward national suicide, or we can do our part to rebuild our institutions and watch the sun rise on America once again.”

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IMAGE: Florida State University with College Fix edits

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