Recent polls indicate that Americans are almost evenly divided on the 2004 presidential election, but GW's staff is leaning heavily in one direction. University employees have donated three times more money to Sen. John Kerry than to President Bush, according to public donations records.
Staff members contributed more than $97,000 to political causes during 2004 election cycle. Nine percent of that money went to Bush, while 29 percent went to Kerry. When other political candidates and organizations are factored in, GW employees gave Democrats about $77,000 - more than four times as much as the Republican total.
The statistics come from Federal Election Commission data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Only donations of $200 or more were considered.
The disparity between the politics of the national population and the overwhelming support for Kerry among GW staff members raises questions for some people.
"I think it illustrates the problem. They're free to donate to whomever they want, but there's very few conservative professors in academia," said Sarah Dogan, national director of Students for Academic Freedom, a group that seeks to keep partisan politics out of the classroom. "Conservatives really aren't welcomed in academia ... (universities) actively discriminate against conservative applicants."
She added, "We've done surveys on political affiliations of faculty at top schools ... at most of the Ivy League schools its 95 percent (support for Democrats)."
Jonathan Molot is an associate law professor at GW specializing in legal ethics and administrative law. He donated $5,500 to Democratic candidates during the 2004 election cycle, including $1,000 to Kerry and $2,000 to Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama. He dismissed allegations that there is a political bias at colleges.
"I think that GW Law School has been very balanced in faculty appointments," he said. "Politics play no role whatsoever, and although the entire academy tends to lean Democratic, I think GW is as open as any institution to the diversity of political perspectives."
Staff members contributed more than $97,000 to political causes during 2004 election cycle. Nine percent of that money went to Bush, while 29 percent went to Kerry. When other political candidates and organizations are factored in, GW employees gave Democrats about $77,000 - more than four times as much as the Republican total.
The statistics come from Federal Election Commission data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Only donations of $200 or more were considered.
The disparity between the politics of the national population and the overwhelming support for Kerry among GW staff members raises questions for some people.
"I think it illustrates the problem. They're free to donate to whomever they want, but there's very few conservative professors in academia," said Sarah Dogan, national director of Students for Academic Freedom, a group that seeks to keep partisan politics out of the classroom. "Conservatives really aren't welcomed in academia ... (universities) actively discriminate against conservative applicants."
She added, "We've done surveys on political affiliations of faculty at top schools ... at most of the Ivy League schools its 95 percent (support for Democrats)."
Jonathan Molot is an associate law professor at GW specializing in legal ethics and administrative law. He donated $5,500 to Democratic candidates during the 2004 election cycle, including $1,000 to Kerry and $2,000 to Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama. He dismissed allegations that there is a political bias at colleges.
"I think that GW Law School has been very balanced in faculty appointments," he said. "Politics play no role whatsoever, and although the entire academy tends to lean Democratic, I think GW is as open as any institution to the diversity of political perspectives."
