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Chapman attracting more liberal-minded students
June 22nd, 2009, 5:00 am · 54 Comments · posted by Gary Robbins, science writer-editor
Chapman will enroll about 1,000 freshmen this fall. Image courtesy of Chapman
The political outlook of freshmen enrolling at Chapman University in Orange has become progressively more liberal over the past decade, on issues ranging from abortion to the death penalty, says an annual survey that UCLA takes of freshmen across the country.
The survey of Chapman students also shows that the high school grade point average of Chapman freshmen has slipped some in recent years, when it comes to students who reported earning As, and that the percentage of students who watch TV has edge upward — a surprising finding considering the growth of electronic games and other distractions.
The survey, conducted nationwide by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), shows distinct ups and downs in some categories. Here’s a sample that gives you a sense of how the attitude and behavior of Chapman students changed from 1998 to 2008. The figures represent students who felt “strongly” or “somewhat agreed” on a particular issue.
- The percentage of students who believe that abortion should be legal(ized) rose from 62.3 percent to 72.2 percent over the past decade. (Editor’s note: The question had to do with abortion in general, not just in the U.S.)
- There was a roughly 22 percent spike in the percentage of students who say the death penalty should be abolished. In 2008, the figure was 42.4 percent.
- CLARIFICATION: All day, we’ve reported that almost 78 percent of the student respondents say it is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships, a drop of about 6 percentage points since 1998. This was a misinterpretation of a poorly produced chart that Chapman included in a brochure. The actual figures state the the number of students who believe it is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships fell from 18.7 percent in 1998 to 11.9 percent in 2008.
- About 12 percent said they that the federal government should do more to control the sale of handguns.
- In a different portion of the survey, titled “Political Orientation,” the number of students who identified themselves as being far left of liberal rose from 29.4 percent to 44.5 percent.
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I hope Chapman gives them realism to go with the idealism.
Well said.
“Abortion should be legalized”??? Isn’t it already legal? Is this a misprint, or are the people who did the survey this out of touch?
And isn’t there something VERY inconsistent about 44.5% saying they are far left of liberal, yet 78% saying homosexual relationships should be prohibited?
Either this was a very badly worded survey or these are some very strange kids.
Jimmy t: The post says laws “prohibiting” homosexual relationships. Fewer students support the idea of prohibiting such relationships.
No, the post says “Almost 78 percent of the respondents say it is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships, a drop of about 6 percentage points since 1998.”
The way it is worded sounds like 78% believe it is important that there be laws to prohibit homosexual relationships.
If 78% are against such laws, the post should say “Almost 78 percent of the respondents say it is important NOT to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships, a drop of about 6 percentage points since 1998.”
Jimmy: The post specifically says that almost 78 percent (77.8 percent) of the students strongly agree or somewhat agree that it is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships.” A decade ago, about 84 percent held that opinion. So, the percentage of students who support such laws has declined by about 6 percentage points.
gary robbins, (anti)science writer-editor
i’d just like to point out that the actual article (which is riddled with improper grammar and sentence structure i’d like to add) says specifically:
“lmost 78 percent of the respondents say it is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships, a drop of about 6 percentage points since 1998.”
what part of this is jimmyt getting wrong? he’s absolutely correct. no one who considers themselves liberal (much less far left of liberal) would think that homosexual relationships should be banned!! is this some kind of a joke? was this inserted into to the survey to get people to start thinking less about MARRIAGE and just simply to think about relationships? i can see it now… the next california election will include a proposition banning homosexuals in general! awesome!
No, the post says “Almost 78 percent of the respondents say it is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships, a drop of about 6 percentage points since 1998.”
The way it is worded sounds like 78% believe it is important that there be laws to prohibit homosexual relationships.
If 78% are against such laws, the post should say “Almost 78 percent of the respondents say it is important NOT to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships, a drop of about 6 percentage points since 1998.”
RE: Chapman attracting more liberal-minded students
Hence, the reason I igonore my alama mater’s appeals for money to support scholarships, etc. Hopefully, there’ll be some students who haven’t been turned to the “dark side.”
Why do you ignore their appeals for money? It’s not the school’s fault more freshmen have “liberal” ideals.
And when “Almost 78 percent of the respondents say it is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual relationships”….I’d hardly call that a liberal or progressive bunch. Way out of whack with the rest of their age group across the country. I had to re-read that stat to make sure I understood it right.
that particular statistic was mis-worded (see above)
As if this is the only liberal university in the State? Every university’s Humanities departments are stauch liberals. The only reason why CSUF’s isn’t as liberal is because they have a large percentage of business students who are traditionally more conservative (or less liberal, depending on how you look at it). From the community colleges to the four year universities, the faculties are filled with left-leaning professors who indoctrinate the young minds with propaganda that is patently false.
Cashew says” Indoctrinate the young minds with “propaganda that is patently false”
How so Cashew?
Please elaborate on the “propangada” they are taught that is “patently false”!
Specifics please!
Chapman is, at best, inconsequential. Write/research about some other area-based school like UC-Irvine or even CSUF where there are some real hurdles and requirements to graduate, not merely based upon your ability to keep Chapman open with tuition payments. Its a total joke. Its a place to send your slightly above average kid who can’t either get in USC or couldn’t meet the pace of workload at a state-supported school. Or a place you pick for your kid so you can continue to control them. Can someone provide a list of graduates with any remarkable contribution to society? Graduation day Chapman, there’s a day to be proud.
Ok, so you’re saying the same thing I am: 78% of those surveyed want laws that prohibit homosexual relationships.
I think it’s odd that, according to the survey, many of those 78% consider themselves “far left of liberal”. I don’t think I know even one person who considers him/herself “far left of liberal” who opposes homosexual MARRIAGE, much less homosexual RELATIONSHIPS.
More tax takers that tax payers
My late father was right
One day 50% of the population will be supporting the other 50%
If its not already happening
A study done by UCLA? Aren’t they a competitor of Chapman U?
It’s a sham of a college and I would never send my kids there. It’s laughable that this paper often sites faculty at this school to support their articles instead of siting a UCI faculty member, UCI which is a top school with world renown faculty is often ignored by this paper. Chapman is a school for rich kids who didn’t do so well in High School and can’t get into a real university. This is not an opinion but really is the reality of the situation.
Andy: You’re clearly not a Register reader. I write about UCI faculty more than anything else I cover.
I am a recent Chapman grad and I take serious offense to this. I am not rich. I EARNED my way through Chapman with scholarships from the HIGH GRADES AND SAT SCORES I earned in high school. Yes, I did get into other colleges, including your beloved UCI- where I didn’t receive a dime of scholarship money for my hard work. My classes at Chapman were by no means easy and I worked hard for my degree. Sure, there are some rich OC kids there, but honestly if you ever took the time to do any real research or actually TALK to students, you would find that there are many many deserving and hard-working students like myself. THANK YOU.
More than 80 percent of Chapman students receive some level of financial assistance. Much of it is in the form of scholarships.
jimmy t - leave it for a while then go back and review it again. It’ll make sense to you then. Gary Robbins is right. Almost 78% DO WANT THE LAWS. Before, 84% wanted the laws. So 6% FEWER now want the laws. The laws are to PROHIBIT (to say that to do is is illegal).
Have a good day! It’s going to be a nice. one.
while yes the trend from 84% down to 78% not wanting homosexual relationships is a trend toward liberal, but still 78% is very high IF you consider that 44% say they are very liberal. Perhaps 78% of the general population may favor limiting homosexual relationships, but normally among the very liberal that percentage comes close to zero. So yes it’s odd. My only conclusion is that they are not very liberal as they say, but just more liberal than their parents and so feel they are very liberal…. everything is relative.
evennow: that’s what I said in the first place: 78% of those surveyed want laws that prohibit homosexual relationships.
My original point was that I think it’s odd that, according to the survey, many of those 78% consider themselves “far left of liberal”. I don’t think I know even one person who considers him/herself “far left of liberal” who opposes homosexual MARRIAGE, much less homosexual RELATIONSHIPS.
I agree Jimmy! Doesn’t make sense at all.
And what’s with a question asking if abortion should be “legalized”??? That reminds me of an old The Man Show episode where Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla went to supermarket asking people to sign a petition to “end women’s suffrage” and asking them whether “women’s suffraging should be illegal”. That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this survey.
EVENNOW: Don’t jibe Jimmy, he’s right. He was saying, if I can paraphrase, how utterly SHOCKING it is that 78 percent of Chapman Freshmen want laws PROHIBITING same-sex relationships.
I find that utterly SHOCKING as JimmyT did, and it’s against any other survey of youth today.
ABSOLUTELY OUT OF TOUCH!
Divorced from reality!
Another reason, not to send my children to my alma mater.
great! it’s about time.
and as for 78% of the students who want homosexual relationships banned… that’s ridiculous. i hope that all you conservative freaks realize that much sooner than later america will be nothing more than a backward, non-progressive country. you do realize that your ridiculous policies of the last 30 years has created a country so far behind europe and asia that it’s doubtful we’ll ever catch up right? you do realize that?
that’s wishful thinking on my part, of course you don’t realize that. because you’re not educated enough to realize that our kids our uneducated, our science is in the dark ages, and our medicine is sub-par. so sad.
jimmyt, I would whole-heartedly agree with your posts on this thread. I agree that the number of students who are AGAINST recognition of same-sex relationships has dropped by 6% over time. However, any group of students that can self-identify as “far left of liberal” and maintain such a position is apparently quite conflicted over the meaning of “far left of liberal” or their own philosophical/political identity.
I too question the validity of the survey itself. As to those who cry/whine about their Alma Mater not appropriately brain-washing their children to think and believe as they do, get over it. Your children will never live their lives on your terms. They are independent thinking beings. You simply ask too much. Ridiculous!!
Have a Fantastic Day:-)
ITS NOT THAT STUDENTS HAVE CHANGED, ITS THE HIRING OF LIBERAL PROFESSORS. THE (NEW) HIRING PRACTICES OF CHAPMAN AND MANY OTHER SMALL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ARE CHANGING THE THINKING OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. THERE WAS A TIME WHEN PROFESSORS TAUGHT “BALANCE”. NOT ANY MORE!!!! ALSO, IN TIME PAST, ONLY THE (LARGE UNIVERSITIES) IE. UCLA, STANFORD, ETC. ETC. WERE PUSHING THE FAR, FAR LEFT PHILOSOPHY - NOW, IT IS IN OUR BACKYARD. I AGREE MONDODOG1, ANOTHER REASON NOT TO SEND MY CHILDREN TO CHAPMAN, BUT ALSO, I’M STOPPING MY GIVING!!!
Two things Eldon: Why are you yelling? Putting text in capital letters is a form of electronic yelling. Secondly, the political orientation of Chapman students is more of a reflection of what’s happening in American politics and culture than anything else.
Stanford liberal?? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
So, Eldon, should there be a litmus test? Any Prof. tending right-wing conservative is okay, any leftie, out?
You are talking about stacking the deck, not taling about ciivil discourse.
If there is no room for any opposition to your point of view, then we now have a dictatorship. Which, I guess from your post, you would be quite comfortable with.
What a coincidence!
I find the relationship between the lowered high school GPAs and the higher liberal standpoints amusing.
+1
I agree with you Megan. It is amusing. And French62: I had a 3.8 GPA in high school and a 4.00 GPA in college. Hope that qualifies me to find something amusing.
megan please,
as if there is any relationship between an individual’s GPA and their political philosophy. methinks you have been listening to tooooo much Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
PS: exactly what was YOUR GPA in high school and college?
Sooo…it looks like 62% say that the death penalty should be abolished, but 72% think abortion should remain legal…huh? I agree with the poster who said this is a strange group of kids. Why not support life for both those in their mother’s womb and those who have killed someone else?
their cerebral cortex is not yet fully developed. you expect them to understand logic and reasoning like this?
Liberal causes are also gaining more support. In 2008, two-thirds (66.2 percent) of college freshmen supported the right to legal marriage for same sex couples, and a similar percentage (60.4 percent) agreed with the statement “The wealthy should pay a larger share of taxes than they do now.” Also noteworthy was the proportion of freshmen who support military spending, which since hitting a high of 45.0 percent in 2002 following the Sept. 11 attacks,
declined to a low of 28.0 percent in 2008.
above taken from HERI survey overall summary
Conduct a similar survey once the kids graduate and enter the working world. Those opinions won’t wear well, much like the baggy jeans and backward b-ball caps they also consider hip. There’s nothing quite as sobering as seeing one’s hard-earned paycheck mugged by social idealism.
Have fun kiddies, this is the last stop before adulthood.
I’ve been out of college for 15 years and yet I still have open-minded, liberal viewpoints. Not everyone is like you. I realize this is Orange County, but it must be troubling for you to wake up each day in a new America. An America that has passed you and your conservative wonks behind.
Put your Liberalism to work and let “Conservative Wonks” have their opinion.
I kind of love this comment. Tell us about how students are always hanging out, doing something suspicious, talking like their hip hop records. The anger here is hilarious– the construction of youth as wide-eyed idealist slackers is so off it makes you look ridiculous. Like an impotent idiot, actually.
Just what this country needs, more liberals! This country is going down the tubes.
It’s important to note the methodology of the UCLA survey, especially when it comes to GPA. UCLA’s CIRP is a self-reported survery — they send it out to students and then tally up whatever responses they get back. Students are self-reporting their grade-points as “A’s” or “B’s” — which makes it a bit questionable whether the results are completely accurate. It is by no means any kind of universal survey. Chapman’s figures regarding the GPA of our entering freshman classes go by actual GPAs rather than self-reported “A’s” and “Bs.” But - important to remember — any survey is pretty much just a snapshot and not graven in stone - it’s a tool for tracking general trends over time.
With that said, our figures show the mean high school GPAs for first-time, full-time freshmen cohorts at Chapman over the past five years as:
Fall 2004: 3.60
Fall 2005: 3.66
Fall 2006: 3.65
Fall 2007: 3.67
Fall 2008: 3.65
As you can see — any “dips” in GPA are pretty minimal, and this figure will go a little up and down from year to year, when it gets to this level. It’s a tiny zigzag line on a chart. We expect it may “dip” a bit with the entering 2009 class, as we are planning to admit more students this year than we did last year, as the state schools cut back.
Here are a few more figures we’re pleased to share:
The SAT scores of Chapman’s entering freshman classes have risen each consecutive year for the past 15 years, now sitting at 1225 on the old scale, 1840 on the new scale.
In the “student selectivity” category, Chapman has become one of the most selective private universities in the nation, rising from a ranking of #92 in 1990 (the year before Jim Doti became president) to #2 today in our U.S. News category.
Since 1991, when Dr. Doti became president, Chapman has completed three cycles of five-year strategic plans. Each one has focused on building a different area of excellence. As a result, this institution has experienced unprecedented growth in terms of student body, facilities and academic curriculum. As we enter our fourth cycle, our focus will be continuing to broaden and strengthen our programs and enhance what is already considered an internationally recognized faculty.
This extraordinary climb over the course of less than two decades is one of the more remarkable stories in higher education. Old-time OC residents may indeed recall Chapman as a sort of sleepy little “last-chance college” back in the day, but the last 19 years have seen a paradigm shift at Chapman. Thanks to many people - and especially our visionary supporters — our story recently is one of immense academic achievement and a keen focus on attracting and retaining top-quality students and faculty — with an eye toward providing the best possible education in an expanding, innovative range of fields relevant to our nation’s and the world’s needs today.
It’s exciting to be a part of it — and especially wonderful to be around our amazing students as it all continues to unfold.
Mary Platt
Director of Communications and Media Relations
Chapman University
The “Research in Brief” publication from Chapman’s Office of Institutional Research, March 2009 issue, which discusses the survery in question, may be seen online here:
http://www.chapman.edu/images/userImages/rpankey/Page_4869/RIB_final.pdf
That issue and previous issues can be accessed here:
http://www.chapman.edu/CHANCELLOR/ciro/researchInBrief.asp
Mary Platt
Director of Communications and Media Relations
Chapman University
And they are wrong, which makes this post wrong.
If you go to the source, as I did, you will find that this post remains wrong in using the term legal(ized). In fact, even if HERI reports it using the term “legal(ized)”, it would be wrong. The survey form filled out by students uses the term “legal” and, according to HERI, that question has not contemplated the concept of “legalizing” abortion since 1973.
While this may be splitting hairs over semantics, I believe journalists should strive to be as correct and accurate as possible. Reporting what was reported in a (wrong) Chapman document is as wrong as directly reporing something wrong.
What I really “love” about all this bickering is how many of you have been ignorantly comparing low GPAs with political stance. How ridiculous! Chapman students are not by all means dumb, or horrible high school kids. Chapman has become one of the more selective schools and has turned away several 1,000 applicants this year alone. The students at this school are extremely motivated and focus on their studies. They EARN their way through Chapman.
And here’s a news flash for you! College students like me all across the country HAVE become more liberal. It doesn’t mean Chapman is to blame at all. And by saying things like “I am never sending my kids there!” or “They aren’t getting my money” over something so stupid as political lenience is ridiculous. Our generation is moving towards a liberal attitude. And there is nothing you can do to stop it. It’s not a bad thing, and Chapman is still a phenomenal school.
So before you point fingers at how “stupid, spoiled, and rich” the kids at Chapman are. And how “America is going down the drain” because of the liberal attitude, why don’t you go check your sources. Chapman is a heck of a lot harder to get into now than it was when you were in high school.
What’s with the talk about liberal professors? These are incoming freshmen, they haven’t even been in a class yet. It’s not even the same discussion, you’re making up your own.
Jimmyt: The post says legal(ized). Abortion isn’t legal in all parts of the world, and there are certain types of abortions that are not legal in the U.S.
Mr. Robbins: I commend you for further researching this and correcting the statistics on views about homosexual relationships. You prompted me to go straight to the source, HERI and their CIRP freshman survey. I got a copy of the actual survey questions and a summary of the results. Responders can answer “agree strongly”, “agree somewhat”, “disagree somewhat”, and “disagree strongly”. It would be interesting to see the survey results of the question “Same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status”.
The folks at HERI explained that the survey DOES NOT contemplate “legalizing” abortion, as you have said. The post is incorrect. They also clarified with them that the question is intended only to contemplate U.S. abortion issues. It is also not intended to contemplate the concept that some U.S. abortions are illegal. The question is intended to answer the broader question of whether abortions in general should be legal or illegal.
In talking with the folks at HERI, I think the confusion is that pre-Roe v Wade they DID use the term “legalized” and their comparison sheets will sometimes use the term as well. But the survey question uses only the term “legal”. Based on your comment that your analysis came from brochures provided by Chapman, I ass/u/me they used the term “legalized”.
Jimmyt: The Chapman document uses the term legal(ized) abortion.