Tufts community donates solely to Democrats

One hundred percent of donations over $100 made by Tufts students and faculty to presidential campaigns went to the Democratic Party, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a non-profit, non partisan research group in Washington D.C.

Senior Senator and Trustee Representative Joseph Coletti said that given the social and political scene at Tufts, "it is no secret that the school is very liberal and Democratic."

The overall results for the top 20 determined that 66 percent of the total contributions made were to Democratic candidates.

Although Tufts was not among the top 20 education contributors, the University's donation percentage was equal to that of the College of William and Mary, the only other institution to give 100 percent Democratic financial support.

Tufts community members gave $12750 to campaigns overall.

Tufts represented the pro-Democrat extreme of the overall donation spectrum. Tufts' total contribution, however, was split between Democratic presidential candidates including Howard Dean, John Edwards, and John Kerry.

The majority of Tufts contributors were faculty and administration. President Lawrence Bacow donated $1,000 to General Wesley Clark's campaign. Drama and Arts Associate Professor Barbara Goodwin matched that donation for the Dean campaign.

Neva Goodwin, co-director of the Global Development and Environment Institute, said that Tufts' Democratic support is attributed to the University's "strong culture of responsible citizenship."

"The clustering of support towards Democrats suggests to me that a variety of values which Tufts faculty and students tend to share are more in line with values that are apt to be espoused by Democrats than with those that are associated with Republicans," Goodwin said.

Goodwin said her contribution to the Dean campaign was a response to her disappointment in the Bush presidency. She said that the Bush administration maintained a poor environmental record, avoided its responsibility to Afghanistan, and antagonized "our allies who are essential if we are to confront the global threat of terrorism."

In contrast to her disillusionment with Bush, Goodwin saw a new hope in Democratic candidates Kerry and Dean. Due to the recent turnouts in the primaries, Goodwin favors Kerry in light of his potential to be a good leader for the U.S. in a trying time.

Tufts undergraduates have also given their share of election contributions. Coletti, for example, recently contributed a significant amount to the John Edwards campaign. "I haven't been so inspired in my life by a politician," he said.

Political science professor Jeffrey Berry believes that Tufts' overwhelmingly Democratic stance is fairly common in the northeast. "I don't think we're different from most elite northeastern colleges. Most elite schools lean heavily towards liberalism. Nationally, the bias isn't so great," Berry said.

Berry said that Bush has angered many Democrats and has pushed them to donate, while there is little incentive for Republicans to give to the Bush campaign due to the large funds he already has.

Democratic candidates such as John Kerry are desperate for funds, however, and people will be more likely to donate to him, Berry said. "If you're going to donate to Kerry, donate to him now."