Republicans Nearly Absent Across 27 Yale Departments, Buckley Institute Report Finds

A new report by the Buckley Institute has found that Republican faculty members are virtually absent from large sections of Yale University. As many as 27 academic departments do not have a single professor affiliated with the Republican Party among their faculty, according to the report.

The findings, outlined in the Buckley Institute’s 2025 Faculty Political Diversity Report, suggest that political affiliation among Yale faculty is heavily concentrated on one side of the American political spectrum.

The report examined Yale’s undergraduate departments, along with its School of Management and Law School. According to the findings, Democrats account for 82.3% of faculty, Republicans for 2.3%, and unaffiliated or third-party faculty for 15.4%.

“That is a more than 36 to 1 Democrat to Republican ratio and a 5 to 1 Democrat to independent ratio,” the report said.

“For the third year in a row, our research has highlighted the significant political and ideological imbalance among Yale’s faculty,” Buckley Institute founder and executive director Lauren Noble said.

Noble added that while Yale has repeatedly pledged to encourage open debate, its hiring practices have “all but excluded diversity of opinion.”

Of Yale’s 43 undergraduate degree-granting departments, 27, representing 63%, were found to have no Republican faculty members. The report also stated that three departments, East Asian Languages and Literature, French and Italian, have neither independent nor Republican faculty.

The disparity is most pronounced in the humanities. Across 18 humanities departments, Democrats outnumber Republicans by a ratio of 72 to 1 and independents by 8 to 1. Of the 409 faculty members identified in the humanities, Democrats made up 88%, compared with 10.8% independents and just 1.2% Republicans.

The study reviewed the political leanings of 1,666 faculty members, with identifiable political affiliation or activity found for 1,335 individuals. Among those identified, 1,099 were classified as Democrats based on voter registration or political activity, while 30 were identified as Republicans. In total, 1,301 faculty members were registered voters.

The report also referenced Yale’s Woodward Report, which outlines the university’s principles on free speech and academic openness.

“Yale’s principles on free speech, as encapsulated in the Woodward Report, recognise that for Yale to fulfil its core function, the ‘free interchange of ideas is necessary not only within its walls but with the world beyond as well.’ The monolithic ideological lean of the Yale faculty indicates that the university is falling short in that regard,” the report states.

Yale University disputed the premise of tracking political affiliation. In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, the university said, “Yale does not track or comment on the political affiliations of individual faculty members. The university is, however, deeply committed to fostering open debate, preserving freedom of expression, and creating an environment in which a wide range of ideas can be expressed and heard civilly, principles articulated in Yale’s landmark Woodward Report and advanced through a wide range of campus initiatives.”

Founded in 2011, the Buckley Institute is named after conservative figure William F. Buckley Jr., a Yale graduate from the class of 1950.