More Duke employees donated to Democrats Hillary Clinton and Deborah Ross compared to Republicans Donald Trump and Richard Burr by a margin of 16 to one.
Almost 90 Duke faculty and staff donated to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, whereas 43 donated to Senate candidates Deborah Ross and Richard Burr. The two Democratic candidates received more than $77,000 in funding—the Republican candidates, however, raised less than $5,000. These numbers are based on faculty and staff that noted “Duke University” as their employer when donating, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
“My motivation for donating and supporting Hillary Clinton was that I know donations help get the word out,” wrote Stefanie Sarantopoulos, associate professor of medicine, in an email. “A persistent and productive lifetime politician, Hillary Clinton is the most qualified and dedicated individual in history to be nominated for this office.”
Hillary Clinton received 86 donations—totaling more than $47,000—from Duke faculty and staff. Some donors highlighted Clinton’s qualifications and history in public life as a motivation for donating. Other donors were excited about the prospect of a first female President.
“We need a president with two XX chromosomes very badly,” wrote Alexander Rosenberg, R. Taylor Cole professor of philosophy, in an email.
Some donors, such as Thomas Nechyba, professor of economics, and Susan Alberts, Robert F. Durden professor of biology, were motivated to prevent a Trump presidency.
Both Burr and Trump received four donations each. However, Burr raised almost $4,000, whereas Trump only raised $860. Notably, Duke employees donated twice as much to Senator Ted Cruz than they did to Trump—$1,150 to Cruz in total.
Duke employees donated to other candidates for president, as well. David Kraines, associate professor emeritus of mathematics, donated to Governor John Kasich.
“The other candidates in the [Republican] primaries were weak, corrupt, divisive and/or unhinged,“ Kraines wrote in an email. “Unfortunately, the same is true of the current candidates.”
Bernie Sanders—Clinton’s primary opponent during the Democratic nomination process—received more than $25,000 from Duke employees. One donor was Dan Ariely, James B. Duke professor of psychology and behavioral economics, who donated $5,000 to the Sanders campaign.
“My point in supporting Bernie was to help expand the political debate in the U.S. to include elements that I thought were incredibly crucial to our continued success,” Ariely said. “I think that the questions of education, and in particular, income equality are crucial for the long term sustainability, and they are the moral thing to do. To my deep sadness, he seemed to be the only one who was making these questions front and center.”
The average donation to Clinton was more than $500, but Trump's average donation was about $216. Burr’s average donation, on the other hand, was $200 higher than Ross’ average—which was almost $800.
Third-party candidates Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party both received exactly one donation. Michael Munger, professor of political science, was the sole Duke faculty donor for Johnson.
“I am trying to advance the electoral prospects of the candidate nominated by the party I identify with most closely,” Munger explained in an email.
By department
Several trends were also seen in donors' department affiliations. Most of those donating to Republican candidates were in math or science departments or the School of Medicine.
Several Law School and Sanford School of Public Policy faculty members donated to Ross, who had previously served as a lecturer in the Law School. In a recent article by The Chronicle, Ross’ colleagues had high praise for her and her work at Duke.
Clinton also received high support from the graduate schools, namely the Fuqua School of Business and the Nicholas School of the Environment. Both Ross and Clinton, however, also had supporters spanning several different departments at the University.
The department with the highest number of donors was the biology department. Emily Bernhardt, associate professor of biogeochemistry, cited her experiences in North Carolina in her support for Clinton.
“As a feminist and as a scholar my interests are much more aligned with the Democratic candidate for president, and I am frankly appalled by the misogyny and anti-intellectualism of her opponent,” she wrote in an email. “I also hope that the enthusiastic voter turnout for the presidential election will have important down ballot implications in NC, as I have great concerns about the anti-environment and anti-LGBT+ stance of the majority of current members in the N.C. state legislature. These are the reasons I have personally donated money and time to the Clinton campaign.”
Donors to Burr and Trump either declined to comment or could not be reached.
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Class of 2019
Editor-in-chief 2017-18,
Local and national news department head 2016-17
Born in Hyderabad, India, Likhitha Butchireddygari moved to Baltimore at a young age. She is pursuing a Program II major entitled "Digital Democracy and Data" about the future of the American democracy.