Still Homogeneous: The Political Affiliations of Claremont Colleges Faculty

Faculty political party affiliations by College.

This article was published in conjunction with The Forum.

Recently, The Forum obtained access to California voter registration data to determine the political party affiliations of professors across the Claremont Colleges. The data encompass counties within a 50-mile radius of the Claremont Colleges—Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, and Riverside. The data were cross referenced with faculty names on the Pomona, Scripps, Claremont McKenna (CMC), Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer college webpages. Names without matching voter registrations or with multiple voter registrations were excluded from the analysis. The analysis examined the remaining 395 non-duplicate faculty voter registrations, which constitute 41% of all Claremont Colleges faculty. 

College	Democrat	No Party	Republican	Third Party
Pomona	92	24	6	5
Scripps	54	8	3	1
CMC	68	34	8	3
Harvey Mudd	28	9	1	0
Pitzer	44	5	1	1

Pitzer had the highest Democrat-to-Republican ratio of 44:1, followed by Harvey Mudd at 28:1, Scripps at 18:1, Pomona at 15.3:1, and CMC at 8.5:1.

In 2018, Mitchell Langbert conducted a similar analysis for all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Since 2018, the Democrat-to-Republican ratio at every Claremont College except Pomona has increased. In aggregate, the Claremont Colleges Democrat-to-Republican faculty ratio has increased from 8.5:1 to 14.8:1. Scripps’s ratio has increased from 10:1 to 18:1, CMC’s has increased from 3.7:1 to 8.5:1, Harvey Mudd’s has increased from 6.1:1 to 28:1, and Pitzer’s ratio has increased from 21.3:1 to 44:1. In that same time period, Pomona’s ratio decreased from 39.7:1 to 15.3:1.

The Forum also analyzed party affiliations by subject area, using the faculty titles listed on each website to categorize professors as either STEM, social science, humanities, or fine arts.

Subject Area	Democrat	No Party	Republican	Third Party
STEM	122	30	7	5
Social Science	75	29	10	1
Humanities	73	21	2	3
Fine Arts	16	0	0	1

Social science departments had the most Republicans of any subject area—a total of 10. The remaining Republicans were divided between STEM and Humanities departments. Fine arts departments had a total of zero Republicans. 

The Forum also analyzed party affiliations by gender, which was listed on 45% of non-duplicate faculty voter registrations.

Gender	Democrat	No Party	Republican	Third Party
Male	60	20	7	5
Female	67	16	2	1

Men and women display roughly similar political affiliations, with female professors about 13 percentage points more likely to register as Democrats.

The Forum also examined political affiliations by generation. For the analysis, the Silent Generation includes anyone born before 1946, Baby Boomers include anyone born between 1946 and 1964, Generation X includes anyone born between 1965 and 1980, and Millennials include anyone born between 1981 and 1996. Two Generation Z (born after 1996) professors were found in the voter rolls, both of whom were registered Democrats.

Generation	Democrat	No Party	Republican	Third Party
Silent	10	0	1	0
Boomer	62	14	9	2
Gen X	135	41	1	5
Millennial	77	25	8	3

Younger generations, especially Generation X, were much more likely to have Democrat political leanings. Republicans were about evenly split between the Boomer and Millennial generations.

In response to request for comment, Scripps’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Faculty, and Associate Dean of Faculty for Racial Equity Mary Hatcher-Skeers said that “As an equal opportunity employer, Scripps strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and hires applicants based on professional abilities, not political beliefs.” At the same time, she added that “to enhance broad faculty representation, in recent years Scripps has collaborated with the Faculty Executive and Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Committees to revise its faculty handbook to ensure more inclusive hiring practices.”

CMC's Executive Director of Strategic Communications Helena Paulin replied:

"What matters most is a professor’s pedagogic ability to engage students in a broad range of materials and diverse perspectives where rigorous debate and open inquiry thrive. We prioritize hiring faculty who demonstrate excellence in this commitment to both pedagogy and scholarship. This ensures that students encounter a wide range of ideas in the classroom and beyond, thus reinforcing the Open Academy commitments to freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity, and constructive dialogue."

Pomona’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Yuqing Melanie Wu said:

"Notwithstanding that the College does not know about or consider the voter registration status of any of its faculty, it would be a mistake to assume that any individual’s range of ideas, knowledge, and perspectives are bound solely by their voter registration; by that same token, it would also be erroneous to conclude that intellectual homogeneity can be determined solely based on voter registration status. The College aims to offer an ideal environment for intellectually curious students and strongly believes in providing resources and energy toward enhancing a campus culture in which all students, faculty, and staff feel welcome and supported."

The deans of faculty at Harvey Mudd and Pitzer did not respond to requests for comment.