The College Fix

ANALYSIS: Florida State University lacks identifiable Republican professors in English, religion, philosophy, and other departments

Democrat professors appear to vastly outnumber Republicans at Florida State University, with only 6 percent identified across 10 departments, a College Fix analysis found.

Additionally, in six of the departments, The Fix could not find any Republican professors.

The Fix found 132 Democrats and 12 Republicans teaching in the 10 departments reviewed at the public university. The Fix obtained voter registration lists from Leon County through a public records request.

In total, The Fix reviewed 239 professors and found affiliations for 187 people. Along with Republicans and Democrats, 40 were listed as no party affiliation, two were Independents, one was Libertarian, and 52 were unknown.

Of the 187 political affiliations found, 6 percent were Republican, while 71 percent were Democrat.

The analysis only included professors, including associate and assistant professors within each department, not graduate student teaching assistants or professor emeriti. The Fix verified identifying information via public sources such as academic papers and resumes.

Professors who teach in multiple departments were only counted once in their primary discipline to protect their privacy and to avoid double counting. There may be crossover in some departments as professors are listed in one department but may teach classes under another major.

Republicans were outnumbered in every department reviewed.

Zero Republicans were found in the sociology, communications, English, philosophy, African American and Asian studies, and religion departments. None of the professors who chair the departments responded to The Fix’s requests for comment via email.

MORE: Zero Republican professors found in 6 departments at UNC Chapel Hill

Despite the skew, several Republican professors told The Fix their institution is welcoming toward diverse viewpoints.

Political science Professor Karen Cyphers said she has been working at Florida State since 2002, starting as a graduate student.

“Never, in any of these roles, have I encountered a stifling of thought in the classroom, pressure related to curriculum, or even contempt from peers,” Cyphers told The Fix in an email.

In her opinion, Florida State “stands out as an example of how to do things right.”

Two other Republican professors echoed similar praises.

“Our department is very explicit about valuing open-mindedness and critical thinking, and it’s not just talk. We don’t always agree on everything, but we generally value working in an environment where it’s okay to disagree and debate,” a professor who asked to remain anonymous told The Fix.

Hans Hassell, another political science professor, said the environment is open and respecting of various political views, both among professors and students.

“As a conservative academic, I find it troubling that other Republicans have this negative view of academia and that it is unwelcoming of conservative scholars,” Hassell told The Fix in an email. “The systematic study of anything shouldn’t be ideological and we only get into trouble when we let our own expectations override the data that is available.”

In his personal experience at Florida State and other universities, Hassell said he has found academia “more than welcoming to conservatives.” He mentioned one of his PhD advisors specifically telling him when he applied “that we needed more Republicans … studying American politics.”

“I have felt that the department and the university is well aware of the importance of viewpoint diversity,” he said.

However, another Republican professor declined to comment, telling The Fix they were concerned about being discriminated against.

The university media relations office did not respond to several phone and emailed requests for comment over the past two weeks, asking about the analysis.

The findings align with similar investigations of other universities’ faculty, including North Carolina State University where seven humanities departments did not have one identifiable Republican professor, The Fix found.

Additionally, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has six humanities departments without any identifiable Republicans. In total, there are 203 identified Democrats compared to just six Republicans, The Fix reported.

Similarly, there are six humanities departments at University of Oklahoma without any Republican professors, according to a review of 13 majors in total, another recent Fix analysis found.

The Fix is not publishing its spreadsheet of professors’ political affiliations to protect their identities.

Breakdown:

Communications
Dem: 13
Rep: 0
Independent: 1
Unaffiliated: 6
Unknown: 2

English
Dem: 27
Rep: 0
Unaffiliated: 0
Unknown: 14

History
Dem: 14
Rep: 2
Unaffiliated: 6
Unknown: 5

Economics
Dem: 5
Rep: 3
Unaffiliated: 6
Libertarian: 1
Unknown: 6

Political science
Dem: 11
Rep: 4
Unaffiliated: 3
Unknown: 6

Sociology
Dem: 16
Rep: 0
Independent: 1
Unaffiliated: 3
Unknown: 2

Philosophy
Dem: 11
Rep: 0
Unaffiliated: 4
Unknown: 3

Religion
Dem: 15
Rep: 0
Unaffiliated: 3
Unknown: 2

African American and Asian studies
Dem: 2
Rep: 0
Unaffiliated: 2
Unknown: 4

Social work
Dem: 19
Rep: 3
Unaffiliated: 7
Unknown: 8

MORE: Brown U. employees gave over 225 times more $$ to Harris/Biden than Trump

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