Fairfield students and politics professors say that there is a wide range of positions on campus that is continuing to grow and is not completely liberal.
Professor Jocelyn Boryczka of the politics department said that she has noticed a strong presence of conservatism on campus, but also hears liberal voices. Even the political clubs seem to be balancing out.
“I think that the Young Democrats have been more active over the last two years, but now there is a greater balance with the Young Republicans,” said Dr. Alan Katz of the politics department.
Boryczka also said that the clubs add a “powerful student voice to the university and surrounding area’s politics.”
Many students also think that there is a growing balance in their peers’ political views.
“Just from seeing kids in my classes, I feel that it is pretty diverse when it comes to political views,” said Meg Malinowski ’06.
But despite the recent growth of balance of student opinion, professors and students agree that the division of opinion between students and their professors is noticeable.
“My own feeling is that the student body comes from rather conservative family backgrounds and the faculty comes from rather liberal educational experience,” said Dr. Edward Dew, chair of the politics department.
While students and professors at Fairfield dispute which party is more active on campus, students at other colleges say without hesitation that there is no disputing the stronger party on their campuses.
Dori Leonard, a junior at The Catholic University of America, also said that her campus is overwhelmingly slanted to the right.
“The College Republicans have much more money because the student government and its funding is controlled by them,” she said. “There’s nothing anyone can do about it, until a College Democrat is in charge of the treasury.”
Luckily, FUSA isn’t controlled by a partisan club. But do students feel like their professors voice their opinions in the classroom too often? Dew said most of Fairfield’s faculty doesn’t have this opportunity.
Dew stressed that the politics department is obligated to address issues that include professors’ political opinions. He said it doesn’t add to students’ education when their politics professors express little or no opinion during classes.
Katz and Boryczka agreed that politics professors should be able to insert their beliefs into their lessons.
“I think that it’s okay for professors to indicate their views as long as they say that it is their views, not the ‘truth’, and not in any way disparage or grade down students with other views,” said Katz.
“Often, opening up a discussion on current issues engages students in critical analysis of events,” said Boryczka.
However, Bobby Morales ’06 also said that he felt overwhelmed by politics professors’ opinions during classes.
“Those professors I’ve had related to political fields have the bias spewing from their mouths. It’s so strong you can smell the bias,” said Morales.
But Dew said he was confident the department never silences differing views, and proceeds with caution when they provide their students with their personal opinions.
“I trust that we are all extremely careful of putting our views in a kind of “box” on the edge of the lecture and proceeding to be as fair and balanced as possible in weighing all positions on an issue,” said Dew.
Regardless, because of differing views between professors and students, Dew feels there is a disconnect in Fairfield’s ‘family’, which is aggravated by the deferential attitude of students who remain opinionatedly silent.
Students agreed and said that many students don’t speak out.
“I also think that many students don’t necessarily care,” said Malinowski. “I know a lot of people who didn’t vote in the past election just because of lack of knowledge regarding the candidates.”
Katz said that he hopes that activism will be increased further over the years.
“I think that there should be more opportunities for students to get involved in politics and important issues through clubs, ‘teach-ins’, and [other outlets],” said Katz.
So is Fairfield a conservative or liberal campus? It depends who you ask. But the wide range of answers suggests that there is in fact a growing balance of opinion.
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