NEW REPORT: Yale has the Most Ideologically Imbalanced Governing Body in the Ivy League

The Buckley Institute is excited to release its newest report, “The Echo Chamber on Top: Governance in the Ivy League.” Building on the Buckley Institute’s review of the Yale Corporation, our new research found a 6 to 1 ratio of Democrats to Republicans among the trustees of Ivy League governing bodies. Measured by political registration and political donations, the Yale Corporation is the most ideologically imbalanced governing body in the Ivy League.

“Yale is a leader in many things, but ideological homogeneity shouldn’t be one of them,” said Buckley Institute Founder and Executive Director Lauren Noble ’11. “Looking at the dramatic ideological imbalance across Ivy League governing bodies, it’s little surprise that so much has gone awry on campus. If America’s top universities truly want to fix the echo chamber in the classroom, they will need to address the echo chamber among their own leadership.”

“The Echo Chamber on Top: Governance in the Ivy league” looked at the top governing bodies of the eight Ivy League universities, analyzing political registrations and political donations. The trustees have ultimate fiduciary responsibility for their respective universities, hire and fire the university president, and have oversight over the faculty, among other responsibilities.

Of 233 total Ivy League trustees identified, 155 (67%) were registered Democrats, 52 (22%) were unaffiliated, and 26 (11%) were Republicans. In total, there was a 6 to 1 ratio of Democrats to Republicans on Ivy League governing bodies.

Only Yale’s governing body, the Yale Corporation, counted zero registered Republicans among its membership.

There was a similar divergence in political donations. Though a small number of individuals accounted for the bulk of political donations on several boards, total political giving to Democrats outnumbered political giving to Republicans at a 4 to 1 rate. In total, Ivy League trustees gave $85.5 million to Democratic causes and campaigns and only $22.4 million to Republican causes and campaigns.

Here too, Yale stood out. With $5.8 million given to Democrats and just over $102,000 to Republicans, a 50 to 1 ratio, Yale trustee political giving was the most lopsided in the Ivy League. By contrast, Cornell was the only Ivy League university where political giving to Republican causes was greater than giving to Democratic causes, though the total number of trustees who gave to Democratic causes and campaigns (45) outnumbered those who gave to Republicans (31).

As the only Ivy League governing body with zero Republican trustees and the one with the most significant disparity in political giving, Yale has, without question, the most ideologically imbalanced governing body in the Ivy League.