In recent days, President Trump and his administration’s decision to withhold federal funding due to antisemitism from institutions like Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Northwestern has dominated national headlines. However, the challenges facing the campuses are more than just antisemitism. The role of faculty, particularly those with liberal, progressive, or even radical ideologies, also deserve scrutiny.
Following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Joseph Massad, a professor of Modern Arab Politics at Columbia University, described the attack as a “stunning success” for the Palestinian resistance, praising it as unprecedented in its scale. At a rally, Cornell history professor Russell Rickford called the attack “exhilarating” and “energizing,” stating it “challenged the monopoly of violence” and “shifted the balance of power.” Meanwhile, over 700 faculty members at the University of Michigan signed a statement that, while condemning the violence, also attributed it to what they called Israel’s “structural apartheid.”
These examples raise pressing questions: Why do the views of some faculty members diverge so sharply from those of the general public? How widespread are these liberal, progressive, or radical ideologies among faculty? What influence do these views have on students’ thinking and development?
As a college faculty member, I’ve spent the past two decades reflecting on the ideological shifts taking place in higher education. What prompted the urgent writing of this essay, however, was my recent experience at the 2025 Annual Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) in Baltimore. This conference, which is intended to showcase best practices and theories for teaching college-level writing, revealed a striking pattern: Among the hundreds of sessions offered, over 50 were focused on themes related to “anti-racism” and “social justice”: Contesting standard English as racist discourse, racial and linguistic justice in the writing classroom, anti-capitalist composition pedagogy, rhetorics of grievances as an approach to teaching writing, critical racial theory in writing, challenging hegemonic notions of gender through writing, and writing as resistance etc.
I teach at an urban community college, where I see firsthand how many students struggle with basic grammar, sentence structure, and foundational writing skills. Nationwide, about 40-60 percent of college students have to take remedial courses in writing, which means they need to catch up on skills they should have learned in high school. Given these challenges, it is both troubling and disheartening to see so many writing instructors prioritizing ideology over the core goals of writing instruction. Rather than focusing on essential skills such as constructing coherent arguments, conducting academic research, engaging with multiple perspectives, and mastering the conventions of academic discourse, many classrooms focus on texts primarily through the lens of racism, sexism, power structures, and Eurocentrism.
As a graduate student of English literature and now a professor teaching literature and composition, I have witnessed firsthand how progressive and radical ideologies have transformed disciplines such as English, history, sociology, ethnic studies, cultural studies, gender studies, feminist theory, and post-colonial studies over the past few decades. What I could not have anticipated was the extent to which these theories would influence not only academia, but society at large. Over the past thirty years, they have helped erode traditional notions of truth, objectivity, and authority; promoted deep skepticism toward the West and its values; and placed increasing emphasis on race, gender, identity, and cultural relativism.
How did we get here? In 1989-1990, the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) surveyed faculty across the country about their political affiliations. 42% identified as left leaning, 40% as moderate, and 18% as conservative. Nearly three decades later, the 2016-2017 HERI survey revealed a significant shift: 60% of faculty identified as either liberal or far left, while only 12% described themselves as conservative or far right.
More recent studies indicate that the ideological imbalance has only deepened. A 2023 study by Harvard University found over 77% of surveyed faculty identified as “very liberal” or “liberal,” with fewer than 3% identifying as “conservative” or “very conservative.” In 2024, Duke University reported 62% of faculty identified as liberal, 24% as moderate, and just 14% as conservative. A Yale University study the same year revealed 77% of faculty were registered Democrats or had actively supported Democratic causes, compared to only 3% affiliated with the Republican Party.
These numbers paint a troubling picture. The overwhelming dominance of liberal, progressive, and even radical viewpoints in academia stands in stark contrast to the ideological makeup of the general population, which has remained relatively stable for decades. According to several national polls, about 37% of Americans identify as conservative, 34% as moderate, and only 25% as liberal.
What are the impacts of a dominant, single ideology on campus culture and student development?
When liberal and progressive ideologies become the overwhelming norm in higher education, they can stifle and isolate moderate and conservative voices among both faculty and students. This undermines the university’s role as a space for the free and open exchange of diverse ideas.
When ideological content is prioritized over foundational academic instruction, it can erode academic rigor and limit students’ intellectual growth. Students may miss critical opportunities to develop essential skills in argumentation, research, and analytical thinking, skills that are vital for both academic success and professional readiness.
The long-term effects of ideological imbalance can shape students’ values and career paths. Those heavily influenced by progressive views during college may struggle to adapt to broader societal values once they enter the workforce.
What can be done to address the dominance of one-party ideology on campus?
To conclude, the growing dominance of one-party ideology on college campuses should deeply concern students, parents, educators, administrators, and policymakers alike. A truly open, intellectually diverse, and vibrant campus environment is essential for students’ intellectual, emotional, and ethical growth. We must return American higher education to its core mission: The pursuit of truth, rigorous scholarship, and the free exchange of ideas no matter where they originate.
Larry S. Su is a professor of English at the City Colleges of Chicago.
Image: Ted Eytan