People at colleges are becoming a bigger force in political contributions
College administrators, faculty members, and other educators have donated just over $6.2-million to the presidential candidates so far this election season, with more than three-quarters of the donations going to Democrats.
Sen. Barack Obama is the clear favorite of academics. The Democrat from Illinois has received about one-third of the total, or slightly more than $2.1-million, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based nonpartisan research group.
The amount donated to Mr. Obama is nearly 30 percent more than what Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, of New York, has received. She ranked second with about $1.6-million.
Mitt Romney, the top Republican on the list, received less than one-third of the amount Mr. Obama got from academe. The former governor of Massachusetts raked in close to $564,000 from higher education.
If recent trends in political giving among academics continue into the rest of the 2008 campaign season, fund-raising strategists for presidential campaigns may need to get more comfortable among the tweed jackets of the professoriate.
During the last presidential election year, in 2004, college professors and administrators made nearly $37-million in donations to all federal campaigns, which include candidates for president and for Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That amount was more than double the level in the previous presidential election year, in 2000.
Ranked by their federal campaign contributions in the 2008 election cycle, professionals counted by the center as working in the education industry, which consists mostly of college administrators and faculty and staff members, come out 12th among all industries in terms of total contributions to federal candidates, according to the center. That puts educators ahead of some historically big givers, such as the oil and gas and the pharmaceutical industries, the center reported.
The increase in donations by academics, who tend to lean left politically, may be the result of their growing frustration with the Bush administration, says Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.
“They seem to have a very clear goal: They want George W. Bush out of office, and they want a Democrat to replace him,” she says.
Harvard Employees Top Givers
By institution, the employees of Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia Universities top the list of total donations to presidential candidates. Harvard’s employees were the top donors to Mr. Obama, Ms. Clinton, and Mr. Romney. Mr. Obama, who earned a law degree in 1991 from Harvard, was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.
The senator is also drawing a significant amount of support from the nation’s historically black colleges, including from the presidents of Hampton, Howard, and Norfolk State Universities. Like most of the candidates, Mr. Obama’s donor base in academe reflects a certain amount of geographic loyalty, with many of his contributors working at colleges in his home state of Illinois.
Similarly, Rudolph W. Giuliani, the Republican former mayor of New York City, and John Edwards, the Democratic former U.S. senator from North Carolina, get their largest chunks of money from academics who work at institutions in their home states: Employees of New York University give more to Mr. Giuliani than those of any other institution, and people who work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill top Mr. Edwards’s list. Mr. Romney does well among donors from colleges in Utah, where he organized the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Giving to Your Own
Such patterns show that faculty members aren’t just looking at party affiliation when they give to candidates. Their frequent preferences for candidates with whom they share local roots or personal connections mean that college professors, despite their propensity to give to Democrats, are in many ways little different from most donors, says Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
“It’s just human to give to your own,” he says.
Personal connections don’t always pay off. Ms. Clinton, for instance, received less money from Yale University, where she received her law degree, than she did from several other Ivy League institutions. Employees at Yale gave her campaign $16,750, while employees of Harvard gave her $67,100 and people employed by Columbia gave $49,350.
When weighing candidates, college faculty members also often listen for how the presidential contenders frame the “big-picture issues,” says Mark J. Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University.
“These are people who are by definition highly educated, interested in the world,” says Mr. Rozell. Their concerns may include the candidates’ positions on higher-education policy, like how they would improve college access, he says, but they tend to have a broader list of concerns, like the war in Iraq and economic policy.
Then there are people who give based on even more-general perspectives, like their views of candidates’ personalities or the way they engage with voters.
Mr. Obama, for one, seems to have gained many fans among academics in part because they consider him to be less polarizing or tied to Washington establishments than some of the other candidates, including Ms. Clinton.
The Illinois senator’s personal style and way of thinking led Bruce D. Bainum, a psychology professor at Pacific Union College, to give the senator $4,600, the maximum allowable donation by an individual for the primary and general elections. (Candidates can only spend money donated for the general election if they become their party’s nominee.)
“Obama rings true,” says Mr. Bainum, who doesn’t see significant policy differences among the leading Democrats. “He’s thoughtful. He listens to people of all kinds.”
On the Republican side, Mr. Romney won over James L. Doti, president of Chapman University, with his response to policy questions when the former governor came to the California campus.
Mr. Doti, who gave $4,600 to Mr. Romney, says he doesn’t agree with all of the candidate’s positions, but “he’s articulate and smart, and I like his style.”
Among other candidates, Mike Huckabee, a Republican and former governor of Arkansas, has drawn relatively few donations from educators so far, even though he has recently made big gains in political polls.
Academics who have supported him include the presidents of several Arkansas institutions, including Ouachita Technical College, the University of Central Arkansas, and Southern Arkansas University. The former governor, who has been making a play for conservative voters in his party, also received $2,300 from Michael P. Farris, chancellor of Patrick Henry College, a Christian college in Virginia known for its strict biblical views and teachings.
| THE LEADERS AMONG CAMPUS EMPLOYEES 1. Barack Obama, Democrat, $2.1-million2. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat, $1.6-million3. Mitt Romney, Republican, $563,7954. Rudolph W. Giuliani, Republican, $461,9255. John Edwards, Democrat, $351,261 |
| COLLEGES WHOSE EMPLOYEES DONATE THE MOST Below is a list of colleges whose employees donate the most to presidential candidates. 1. Harvard U., $281,0502. Stanford U., $135,8503. Columbia U., $120,3504. Georgetown U., $105,1505. U. of Chicago, $92,9026. Northwestern U., $78,4507. New York U., $74,3508. U. of California at Berkeley, $71,976*9. U. of California at Los Angeles, $65,980*10. U. of Southern California, $63,950 * Some donations from employees of the U. of California could not be classified by specific campus, so the totals may be higher. |
| TOP DONORS FROM COLLEGES FAVOR DEMOCRATS | 1. Harvard U.,
$281,050 | 81% | 19% | | 2. Stanford U.,
$135,850 | 85% | 15% | | 3. Columbia U.,
$120,350 | 81% | 19% | |
| WHY DONORS GAVE TO THE TOP CANDIDATES Barack Obama Why I gave: Christopher Edley Jr., dean of the law school, U. of California at Berkeley, $4,600 Mr. Obama was a former student of Mr. Edley’s, and the professor now calls him a friend. Mr. Edley says he “is singularly gifted in possessing the entire package.” The professor cites his intelligence, “firm sense of himself,” “pragmatism that’s guided by principle, not polls,” ability to think unconventionally, and communication capabilities that allow him to “connect with individuals and inspire people en masse.” Donor trends: The former lawyer has friends in law schools across the country and is raking in money from many professors and deans, including at the University of California at Berkeley. Mr. Obama has also received donations from the presidents of several historically black colleges, including Hampton, Howard, and Norfolk State Universities. Employees of Chicago-area institutions, like Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, where the senator has served as a senior lecturer on constitutional law, have also been generous to the Obama campaign.
Hillary Rodham Clinton Why I gave: Sara M. Adler, professor of Italian, Scripps College, $4,600 “I think she shows real leadership qualities,” Ms. Adler says. “She really has a lot of substance to what she says, and she’s quite presidential, in contrast to the other candidates. It seems like even in the debates, she takes the lead. And it’s wonderful that she happens to be a woman.” Donor trends: Ms. Clinton received a large number of donations from employees of Ivy League institutions, including those at Columbia University (whose workers gave $49,350) and the University of Pennsylvania (whose workers gave $19,800). Employees of Yale University, where the senator received her law degree, gave $16,750. Meanwhile, employees of Wellesley College, where Ms. Clinton received her bachelor’s degree, gave only $4,400. More than 60 college employees gave the senator $4,600 or more, including at least 40 professors.
John Edwards Why I gave: Arnold R. Brody, professor of molecular biomedical sciences, North Carolina State U., $6,900 Mr. Brody hopes Mr. Edwards would reverse some of the policies and recent spending priorities of the Bush administration, including putting more money into the National Institutes of Health. President Bush has sought, in the past several years, to cut funds for biomedical research, and Mr. Brody says some of his colleagues have felt the effects. “We need a major change in the way government money is invested,” Dr. Brody says. “We need more investment in the infrastructure of this country — in highways, bridges, federal research — not in the bellicose infrastructure of a war in a place we have no business being.” Donor trends: Law professors were particularly generous to Mr. Edwards, a Chapel Hill law graduate and once a highly regarded trial lawyer, giving at least $21,030 to his campaign. Among Mr. Edwards’s legal-eagle contributors is Barry C. Scheck, a professor at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law who founded the Innocence Project, which uses DNA evidence to aid inmates who may have been wrongly convicted.
Mitt Romney Why I gave: James L. Doti, president, Chapman University, $4,600 Mr. Romney won over Mr. Doti after appearing on the California campus and sitting for an interview on Mr. Doti’s weekly public-affairs program on the local public-television affiliate. Mr. Doti, who also has given money to Republican presidential candidates Rudolph W. Giuliani and John McCain, said he was impressed by Mr. Romney’s ability to give “compelling” responses, even on issues, like immigration and health care, on which the two men disagree. “While I don’t agree with all of his policy positions, I think he has the right kind of leadership skills,” Mr. Doti says. “He’s articulate and smart, and I like his style.” Donor trends: Mr. Romney’s business and law degrees are from Harvard. Utah institutions also showed their support for the prospective candidate, who attended Brigham Young University and won plaudits as chief executive of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, in Salt Lake City. While Mr. Romney received $59,550 from Utah colleges, he got just a single $500 donation from the University of Massachusetts, where he tried to put a controversial overhaul in place as governor. Executives from for-profit higher-education companies were generous to Mr. Romney, donating at least $23,200 to his campaign.
Rudolph W. Giuliani Why I gave: Stephen Goldsmith, director of Innovations in American Government program, Harvard U., $4,600 Mr. Goldsmith is the chief domestic policy adviser to the Giuliani campaign and says the donations by him and his wife, Margaret, reflect that involvement. He has known the candidate for more than 20 years, dating back to when they both served in federal positions under President Ronald Reagan,; they also spent time together when they were mayors (Mr. Goldsmith was mayor of Indianapolis) in the 1990s. “I teach leadership and management. In that context I particularly appreciate when a person combines both enough vision to see a better future and enough operational talent to accomplish it,” says Mr. Goldsmith, who praised Mr. Giuliani for reducing crime and welfare rolls in New York “despite broad consensus that these social ills were inevitable.” Donor trends: Contributions from New Yorkers make up more than one-quarter of the funds Mr. Giuliani has received from college employees. Many of the former mayor’s donors work at private institutions, such as Berkeley College, which has several campuses inNew York, that specialize in business and other career-oriented training.
John McCain Why I gave: Donald Haider, director of the Center for Nonprofit Management, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern U., $4,600 Mr. Haider is a member of the McCain campaign’s fund-raising operation in Illinois and has appeared with the candidate at events in Chicago. “Character is everything,” Mr. Haider says. “He has principles, he hasn’t changed his position. He can win. He has the best foreign-policy endorsements of any candidate, and he has been a good senator for 16 years.” Donor trends: Most of Senator McCain’s larger donations from academe came from physicians, economists, and professors of law and business. He also received a $2,300 donation from the University of Arizona’s head men’s basketball coach, Robert (Lute) Olson.
NOTES: The data used to compile the graphic and information on this page came from the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based nonpartisan research group. The center provided information about individual donations from people who work in what it calls the “education industry,” which counts mostly money from employees of higher-education institutions. Contributions made by some employees of elementary and secondary schools are included in this data, but their donations represent a small portion of the money. Under federal campaign-finance law, each individual donor is limited to giving $2,300 per candidate for the 2008 presidential primaries. Donors can contribute an additional $2,300 per candidate for the general election, which the candidate can spend only if he or she becomes the party’s nominee for president. To arrive at each person’s total contribution to a candidate, the center counts donations made by the person as well as those made in the names of a spouse who is not employed and dependent children. The center’s database includes donations reflected in Federal Election Commission records of receipts through October 30, the most recent available, from everyone who contributed more than $200 since the beginning of the year. |
http://chronicle.com Section: Government & Politics Volume 54, Issue 17, Page A1
