CMC students reacted with shock and disbelief to the results of the 2024 election. We should have seen it coming.
(Credit:Bruce Damonte)
The day after the 2024 election, the 5Cs were in shock. Conversations were hushed; faces were heavy with disbelief. The sense of surprise was palpable. But here’s the hard truth: we shouldn’t have been so caught off guard.
This disconnect wasn’t unique to the 5Cs, but it was certainly felt here, even at CMC, which boasts relatively high political diversity.
At CMC, 19% of students identify as Republican, while roughly 60% lean Democrat. Yet, only 16% perceive right-leaning culture on campus, and nearly 20% more believe CMC leans left of center. Rhetoric reflects these beliefs too. Students often use “we” to refer to the Democratic Party, assuming political alignment even with those whose views remain unknown. They claim that “we” lost the election, and that it is unbelievable how others cannot see what “we” see in President Elect Trump. But for the 20% of CMC students who support Trump, there is no “we.” Most stay silent, fearing backlash from peers who espouse tolerance yet struggle to extend it.
Even our faculty, many of whom we turn to for insights into today’s politics, are disproportionately left-leaning. In 2018, CMC’s Democrat-to-Republican faculty ratio was a comparatively modest 3.7:1, but the other Claremont campuses tell a different story. In 2018, Pomona stood at 39.7:1, Pitzer at 21.3:1, Scripps at 10:1, and Harvey Mudd at 6.1:1. In a broader context, liberal arts schools across the country average a 12.7:1 Democrat-to-Republican faculty ratio, and 78% do not employ even one Republican professor. This pervasive ideological uniformity has a profound impact on how students perceive political reality. When that’s the environment in which we learn and debate, it’s no wonder so many found a somewhat predictable outcome unfathomable. We are overeducated but underinformed.
The U.S. electorate has consistently opted for change in the White House and Congress, flipping control in eleven of the past thirteen presidential and midterm elections. Political volatility is almost baked into the system. And the desire for change is not limited to America, but has been widespread around the world since the pandemic. We know this and yet we missed it. Why? We never truly explore the broad spectrum of American political views.
This isolation leads to a fundamental misunderstanding of what’s happening beyond the ivory tower. Many of us were baffled by voters who chose differently because we’ve rarely listened to those voters’ voices with sincerity or depth.
The socioeconomic context of our campuses plays a role, too. The average household income of students at CMC is over $200,000 a year. Most of us have never experienced or deeply understood non-elite social circles. We lack genuine exposure to working-class perspectives, and this ignorance has consequences.
It’s not just that liberal arts campuses are politically homogeneous; they’re also culturally insular. Many students come from similar backgrounds, reinforcing a shared worldview. The majority of CMC students are from places like California, New York, the DMV, and other bastions of blue. This insularity leaves us ill-prepared to grasp why, for instance, many working-class voters feel alienated from the Democratic Party.
Many talk about empathy and understanding but rarely practice it outside of their political sphere. Worse, much of the rhetoric on campus involves a belief that those who voted red are stupid, or worse, evil. This could not be more counterproductive.
The shock after the 2024 election wasn’t just about the political outcome; it was about deep disconnect. Democrats on and off campus were blindsided not because they didn’t care, but because they haven’t listened.
Our campuses need a reckoning—a willingness to engage with differing perspectives on campus and a commitment to exploring differing perspectives off-campus. Otherwise, we will continue to misread political landscapes and be blindsided by outcomes others saw coming. Our standards as a school, and as those who purport to be politically informed, demand more of us than shock and disbelief.
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