That colleges and universities are bastions of liberalism is a common assertion and among conservatives, there is considerable resentment about this. But is it true? Over at History News Network, Richard Morris, historian at Lycoming College (emeritus), has recently written a piece in which he consider this question as it relates to faculty members. He argues that this common assumption is a “myth” — at least when one considers things in the “philosophical sense.” Others have made similar claims. It is counter-intuitive to be sure. He writes,

For years conservative broadcasters and the right-leaning print media have denounced liberal control of American higher education. This assertion is based on the large number of academic instructors who belong to the Democratic Party and on actions taken at some colleges to promote a sense of inclusiveness and toleration to the point which – some say – discourages free speech. Both of these latter observations about academe are to a limited extent true, but they indicate that college faculty and administrators are conservative, not liberal, at least in the philosophical sense.

I hope to write more about this topic in the future, including why I tend to think about this topic in different ways than Morris does. But for now, you can read his entire piece here.