The University of Washington
By Michael J. Thompson, on Aug 14, 2010
The UW is seen by many on the right as a frivolity, a place where elitist profs teach meaningless courses. This post is part of a more serious consideration by CampusReform.org, Their guide to the nation’s top 100 colleges profiles different colleges, examines its political climate, and offers items of interest to conservative students, parents, and alumni. Click here to see the full list of college profiles.
The University of Washington (UW) is a public university in Seattle, Washington set on a campus with magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean and downtown Seattle. The school, founded in 1861, is the largest university in the northwest region. It enrolls approximately 42,000 students of which nearly 31,000 are undergraduates. UW is the flagship university of the state system and a “Public Ivy.”
Editor: We, not just the UW, but all great universities are seen as overwhelmingly leftish .. go to their site or read on:
Campus Life
Of the 35 student groups at UW with a political purpose, 27 are left-leaning and eight are right-leaning.
Liberal groups on the campus of UW reflect the liberal trends that are found in the city of Seattle, one of the more progressive cities in America: Amnesty International; College Democrats; Campus Antiwar Network; Campus Coalition for Sexual Literacy; Campus Radical Women; College Greens; Democracy Insurgent; For a Democratic University; Green Coalition; Green Dot; Husky Efforts Against Racism; Earth Club; International Socialist Organization of UW; International Workers and Students for Justice; Palestine Solidarity at UW; Sierra Student Coalition; Social Work Immigration Alliance; Student Action Network; Student Liberation Front; Student Labor Action Project; Student Worker Coalition; Queer Men’s Group; Students of Women’s Studies; Students for Justice in Palestine; Students for Choice; and VOX: Students for Planned Parenthood.
Conservative groups at UW include Young Americans for Liberty; Israel Forever; Conservative Women; Students for Human Life; Students for Concealed Carry on Campus; College Republicans; Youth for Western Civilization; and Conservatives for Real Change. The italicized groups are affiliated with CampusReform.org’s Campus Leadership Program, which provides groups with advice, assistance, and many kinds of support.
Faculty
The Young Americans for Liberty at UW researched the political contributions of the school’s faculty and staff in the 2008 presidential election. The group found that 91% of donations went to Democratic candidates and 96% of contributing faculty and staff gave to Democratic candidates. Specifically, 592 people gave $465,386 to Democratic candidates and 27 people gave $20,985 to Republican candidates.
University Policy
UW, like many schools, assigns a book for all incoming freshmen to read over the summer. In 2009, the assigned book was Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father. As Gene Edgar, UW education professor and co-chair of the book selection committee, explained, “The book stands by itself, regardless of the author, as an eloquent description of one’s search for identity and the meaning of the American dream. That the author happens to be one of the most respected people in the world only adds to the draw of this book.”
UW’s common reading program is just four years old. Previous choices include 2007’s Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, which focuses on climate change and environmental policy, and 2008’s The Devil’s Highway: A True Story, which is a first-person account of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States.
In May, the UW School of Law hosted a debate on the constitutionality of Obamacare. The event was organized, in part, by Young Americans for Liberty. Organizers of a previous UW event claimed they could find no one to argue that Obamacare was unconstitutional. Ilya Shapiro, a Cato Institute senior fellow, offered to debate the constitutionality of Obamacare “anywhere at anytime” — and he soon came to UW’s Law School to do just that.
FIRE, a prominent legal defense organization, has given the University of Washington a “red light” rating. According to FIRE, a red light university has “at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech.” Click here to read FIRE’s full report on the university.
In 2003, UW administrators shut down an affirmative action bake sale hosted by the College Republicans. These sales satirize affirmative action policy by offering goods for sale at different prices depending on the buyer’s gender and ethnicity; they are a common event for conservative student groups across the country. But UW did not agree with the College Republicans. Later, a member of UW’s Board of Regents claimed the event was “demeaning” and “disrespectful.”
If you would like to take action on this campus or learn more about conservatism at this school, please contact me, Michael Thompson, CampusReform.org’s Regional Field Coordinator for the University of Washington.