When Malcolm Ingram chipped in $2,000 to help elect Democrats to Congress in 2010, he was part of a college tradition in Central New York.
“I think it’s important, who’s running the country,” said Ingram, a drama professor at Syracuse University. “It worries me particularly that the Republican Party has gone so far to the right. They shouldn’t be up on such a limb.”
Ingram is among the scores of political donors who make CNY college campuses into a treasure chest for Democratic political candidates. Their donations reflect a liberal tradition among many in the humanities, say donors and political scientists.
Central New York is rich in colleges and universities: Syracuse, Cornell University, Hamilton College, and Colgate University among them. Consider these numbers, from the database of the political-money watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics, on political money from Central New York professors:
- In 2008, professors from those four CNY campuses gave at least $275,000 to political candidates. In 2010, they gave at least $81,000.
- Of that, 95 percent — or $262,000 — in 2008 went to Democrats compared to 5 percent — or $13,000 — for Republican candidates. In 2010, the pattern was the same: 94 percent to Democrats and 6 percent to Republicans.
- Among the four campuses, the biggest pot of political money comes from Syracuse and Cornell. From there, at least 180 professors gave more than $257,000 in 2008 and more than $72,000 in 2010. Of that, 95 percent went to Democrats.
“People generally donate to campaigns because they are giving to a group or individual that they believe in and want to see prosper,” said Matthew Woessner, a political science professor at Penn State University. “It typically is just a show of support for a group or party that they appreciate.”
Liberals tend to get degrees that open up more opportunities in academia, while Republicans tend to get degrees that are practical-oriented, Woessner said. “It’s not that education make people more liberal or conservative,” he said. “It has a lot to do with personality that drives their interests in their pursuits.”
For Peter Rabinowitz, a comparative literature professor at Hamilton College, the interest was a local connection. In 2006 and 2008, he was a strong contributor to the House campaigns of Democrat Michael Arcuri of Utica. Rabinowitz donated $3,500 to Arcuri for those campaigns.
“I try to put my money as locally as I can,” he said. “It was a traditionally Republican district and we thought it would be good if we could get a Democrat in there.” Arcuri won the race in 2006 to replace the retiring Sherwood Boehlert.
But Rabinowitz became unhappy with Arcuri after he voted against the President’s proposed health care overhaul. The overhaul succeeded. Rabinowitz did not give any money to Arcuri’s failed re-election bid in 2010.
For some professors like Cornell University’s Charlotte Coffman, it’s important to donate to the party instead of an individual. “I wanted to get the money to where it would do the most good,” she said. Coffman, who teaches human ecology, has contributed more than $9,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee since 2006.
“If I pick out someone in Pennsylvania or California I don’t know the ins and outs of what they need,” she said. “I’m assuming the national committee would know that.”
Also at Cornell University, John Bishop is among the most generous donors. Since 2003 he’s donated more than $46,000 to Democrats all over the country. He’s donated to presidential campaigns, congressional campaigns, and to many out-of-state campaigns.
“If I have strong opinions about the direction I’d like the country to go in, I help it move in that direction,” Bishop said. “Most people can’t afford it and I can. So I think it’s my obligation.”
Among those Democrats he’s supported: U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell of North Carolina; former Reps. Steven Kagen of Wisconsin; Dan Maffei of DeWitt; and Bill Foster of Illinois.
Bishop reflects a growing tendency of nationalizing politics, said Robert McClure, a political scientist at SU. “As you nationalize politics,” McClure said, “people donate in other districts.”
For his part, Malcolm Ingram, the SU drama professor, plans to keep giving to Democrats at the 2012 presidential campaign gets started. Among his reasons: A recent Supreme Court ruling that allows corporations to donate in campaigns. He sees himself, he said, as a counterweight to the corporate clout.
“It’s up to ordinary people,” Ingram said, “to try and stand up against that.”
(Chari Bayanker is a graduate student in magazine, newspaper and online journalism.)
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