INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 135, No. 32
99.5% of Academics’ Donations Given to Left-Leaning Groups
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2018
n
ITHACA, NEW YORK
12 Pages – Free
MEGAN ROCHE / SUN PROJECTS EDITOR
By AMANDA CRONIN Sun Staff Writer
Over the last year, professors, researchers and lecturers collectively donated approximately $289,975.05 to election campaigns. Almost all donations were to left-leaning candidates for Congressional, gubernatorial and other races. There was only one donation to Republican candidates. To compile this data, The Sun filtered public Federal Election Committee filings, collecting the donation information from individuals who listed Cornell University as their employer. The Sun then confirmed the current appointment of each donor as a Cornell faculty member, instructor or researcher. Administrators and other personnel were excluded from all calculations. “I don’t think this data is surprising at all; it’s reflective of the political alignment of the University and its staff,” said Michael Johns ’20, president of Cornell Republicans.
Blue wave | Of all the donations made by Cornell professors, researchers and lecturers, only one was made to Republican candidates. Faculty and staff of the College of Arts and Sciences also made more donations than those from any other colleges.
“... The Cornell community should carefully consider the implications of [The Sun’s] findings, especially as it relates to the political culture of the university.” Most campaign dollars were contributed through Political Action Committees or PACs. These organizations are dedicated to raising money on behalf of a particular party, candidate or cause. Some of the most common
include End Citizens United, Emily’s List, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee, ActBlue. Seventy-six percent of the professors, researchers and lecturers donated $165,858.35 directly through individual See DONATION page 4
Free Shuttle Bus to Take Students to Off-Campus Polling Stations POLLING LOCATIONS NEAR THE CORNELL CAMPUS
By BREANNE FLEER and GAYATRI SOMAIYA Sun News Editor and Sun Contributor
To help get Cornellians to the polls to vote in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, Cornell Outdoor Education and the Cornell Public Service Center will be providing shuttles to transport Cornell community members to polling locations. The shuttles are free of charge and will run from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every 15 to 20 minutes on Tuesday. The vans will stop at locations on North Campus, West Campus, Central Campus and in Collegetown to drive individuals to the five off-campus polling locations — Belle Sherman School Annex, the Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services, the First Congregational Church, St. Luke Lutheran Church and Fall Creek School. The one on-campus polling location that serves residents who live on campus, Alice Cook House, is not included in the route. Specific route stops, as well as which polling places serve which campus residential buildings, can be found on the Public Service Center website. The Public Service Center is helping to organize the shuttles in partnership with the Andrew Goodman Foundation. This is the first time that the PSC has organized Election Day shuttles, according to Amy K. Somchanhmavong, associate director of service-learning and partnership at the Public Service Center. OLIVIA XIANG / SUN GRAPHICS DESIGNER
See SHUTTLE page 4