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Colgate University… The Rest of the
Story
Classes of 2004-2008 Poll on Curriculum and Politics
in the Classroom
A
poll conducted in January 2007 by Public Opinion Strategies of
Alexandria, VA asked students and alumni from the 3,300 members of
the classes of 2004- 2008 about curriculum and politics in the classroom.
478 responded with a very robust margin of error of ± 4.45%.
Key Findings from the poll:
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While students and alumni say that overall they feel their Colgate
education prepared them for their chosen career, majorities (66%,
62%, 55% respectively) responded that the core curriculum in economics,
math, foreign language were inadequate. 47% said science
classes and 41% said American history and civics classes were inadequate.
Only literature and writing scored as adequate preparation (89%,
91% respectively).
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Significant pluralities or respondents – and overwhelming
majorities of the conservative minority on campus – say some
professors are intolerant of certain political and social viewpoints (45%-69%), present
controversial issues in a one-side manner (40%-67%), and
they have felt pressure to muzzle their own views (30%-56%).
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94% said that student evaluations of faculty don’t ask about
professors using the classroom to present their own political views.
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The overwhelming majority of students (64%) and alumni (70%) affiliated
with a sorority or fraternity have felt the need to hide their
Greek affiliation, a phenomenon seemingly unnoticed by
non-Greek students/alumni.
More than 3,300 students and recent alumni were invited in four e-mails
to participate in the survey. Participants could only respond once and
were blinded to the polling company, meaning particular responses cannot
be linked to a specific person. The number of respondents and the margin
of error shows the survey to be quite robust. (If the poll was repeated,
the results would be the same by plus or minus 4.45%)
The fact that such a large number of participants self-identify as being
liberal (50%) or moderate (31%) makes the results even more telling -
even this group of left to middle-leaning thinkers believe the liberal
arts curriculum is lacking in math, science and economics and even they
see political bias in the classroom.
Response from Colgate University on the poll: "The
Public Opinion Strategies poll concludes that the core curriculum does
not provide an adequate foundation in economics, math, and foreign languages.
Core-curricula (at Colgate and other institutions) are not designed to
provide college-level instruction in these areas." 04/04/2007
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