Poll shows people want politics out of colleges

By Kim Jarrett, The Center Square,  Nov 19, 2025 -   The latest Vanderbilt Unity Poll reveals that people want college and university professors to remain neutral on politics and for state lawmakers not to dictate what they teach.

The survey, conducted Nov. 7-10, questioned 1,033 U.S. adults, according to a news release from the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, a nonpartisan initiative.

Thirty-eight percent of those polled said universities should be strictly neutral on all politics and social issues, while 34% said they should speak only on issues that affect education and research. When it comes to universities engaging in what the poll called "public and political debates that affect society," 28% said that universities should.

Lawmakers should stay out of college curricula, the respondents said. Sixty-six percent said that state legislatures should not control what is taught about U.S. history, 70% said they should not govern the teaching of evolution, and 74% said lawmakers should not wade into curriculum decisions about gender or sexual orientation. The government should not tell professors what to teach, 65% of those polled said.

“Overwhelmingly, people want politics kept out of the classroom,” said Vanderbilt Poll codirector Josh Clinton, the the Abby and Jon Winkelried Chairman at Vanderbilt and a professor of political science. “They don’t want professors using the classroom to push political views, and they don’t want politicians trying to dictate what happens in higher education. People want education to be about education.”

Respondents overwhelmingly said that the most important thing a student should get from college is the ability to think more logically. In contrast, 77% said moral growth is the most or very important.

“One of the clearest findings is that the public wants colleges to get back to basics,” said John Geer, codirector of the Vanderbilt Unity Poll and professor of political science. “When you ask about the core purposes of a college education, you see almost no political polarization. That is, progressives and MAGAites agree – a rare thing these days.”

Research indicates that Americans had the same views in the 1940s, according to Vanderbilt. A 1945 Roper/Fortune survey showed that 63% said the government should not tell a professor how to teach. Sixty-five percent of respondents to a 1949 survey said that colleges should present both sides for capitalism and socialism.

“Many observers think current debates about the nature of higher education are relatively new but they are not,” Geer said. “The country, for example, was debating the purpose, value and direction of higher education in the 1940s when the federal government made major investments in research and teaching during and after World War II.”

The majority of respondents, 62%, said a college degree is "worth it" and help students get a better job, according to the news release. But only 53% believe that it is "worth it" when the financial investment is considered.

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Kamala Harris Visits Nashville, Encourages Voting Without Endorsing Democrat Aftyn Behn

 The Democratic candidate in the 7th District special election left the event before the former vice president arrived

Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Hadley Park on Tuesday afternoon to rally votes for the District 7 special election. Credit: Martin B. Cherry / Nashville Banner

Nashville Banner, Nov. 19, 2025- Scores of Nashvillians packed into a pavilion at Hadley Park on Tuesday afternoon as former Vice President Kamala Harris came to a Tennessee Democratic Party event to encourage voting in the District 7 special election. 

But Harris and State Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), the party’s nominee with an unusual chance in the off-cycle election in a typically red district, did not cross paths or acknowledge each other directly at the event. 

In a bizarre campaign move, Behn left about five minutes before Harris’ motorcade pulled up to the pavilion, sending the crowd into a frenzy. 

“I have a bunch of events. I have stuff I have to go to, but I’m so excited for who’s coming, and deeply honoured that you all are here today,” Behn told the crowd during a minute-long speech. She did not name Harris but urged voter turnout. .... Behn told the Banner she had a “huge fundraiser” to attend at a downtown law firm. ...  former vice president...in town for her book tour

Though she has primarily campaigned on affordability and avoided more divisive topics, Behn, a progressive Democrat, is generally to the left of Harris, a moderate.  (read more)

Rod's Comment: Okay, can someone tell me what is going on here? I suspect Harris wants to give the presidency another shot and does not want to be tied to the far left of the party, but maybe I'm missing something. It seems to me, that Harris has taken positions every bit as woke progressive as Aftyn Behn, but maybe she doesn't want any recent reminders? One would think Aftyn Behn would have stuck around for a photo with Harris, if nothing else. Was it prearranged that they would not be on the same stage together? I am not buying that Behn had to rush off to a fundraiser party and couldn't delay her arrival by a few minutes. 

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Trump Defends Saudi Crown Prince Over Khashoggi Killing. "Things Happen."

President Donald Trump and Crown Prince and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday in the Oval Office. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)

by Rod Williams, Nov. 18, 2025- As reported in the Washington Post today, President Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of Washington Post opinion columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying “things happen” and that he did not hold the Saudi leader responsible for the 2018 murder despite a U.S. intelligence report assessing the opposite.

The Post article says, "Trump’s dismissive language offered the highest-level confirmation yet that Mohammed will face few consequences for the killing, as the crown prince makes his first visit to Washington since Khashoggi was dismembered in a Saudi consulate in Turkey."

Mohammed was in Washington for a meeting with Trump and received a grand welcome from Trump at the White House, greeted at the South Portico with an honor guard of black horses and herald trumpeters. 

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about, Trump said of Khashho. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but [Mohammed] knew nothing about it,” Trump said in response to a question about Khashoggi. “And we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.” Trump called the crown prince “one of the most respected people in the world.”

There is a lot about Trump that disgusts me, but this seems to encapsulate his lack of human decency. I accept that unless nations are at war, they must be civil and have relations. The US had friendly relations with Nazi Germany up until we did not. American presidents have had civil meetings with the worst dictators of the world. It is sometimes a necessity. We need to act diplomatically, even with mass murderers at times. One does not have to roll out the red carpet for them and have lavish ceremonies honoring them, however. One can be civil and discuss issues of mutual interest without excusing the inexcusable.

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Trump faces Reality, Implements Major Rollback of Food Tariffs

Rod Williams, Nov. 17, 2025- If Donald J. Trump were not an economic illiterate, he would know that a tariff is a tax and like a local sales tax, raises the price to the consumer. Maybe he does know it and thinks it is worth it to onshore production of tariffed items, or maybe he has just now learned it. If he just now learned it, he is teachable. If he knew it all along, he is a liar.

In any event, I am pleased to see President Trump reduce the tariffs on coffee, bananas, beef, tomatoes and about a hundred other common food items, including fruits, nuts and spices. I need my daily Brazil nut and I have grown fond of coffee. 

Trump has alleged for a long time that he was collecting tariffs from foreign countries. That is simply not true. The importer pays the tariff. That is not debatable; it is a fact.  It is true that an exporter may eat some of the tax, by reducing his profit margin, and so may the importer and the retailer, but most of the tax is passed on to the consumer. In any event the import tax is paid by the importer and allmost all of it is passed on the consumer. Market competition at each level of production until final purchase keeps profit margins very low.  The average profit margin for grocery stores is around 2.2%. There is little room for the grocer to absorb much of the tax. When Donald Trump brags about all of the money he has raised from tariffs, he is bragging about all of the money taken out of consumers' pockets.

Trump could have stuck to his guns, I guess, and all but the wealthy would have learned to drink coffee that was made from ground chicory. It would take a long time to onshore coffee and bananas. Maybe with Trump tacitly admitting that tariffs cause price increases to the consumer, some of Trump's supporters will stop believing everything he says. Some may; for others, there is no hope.

 

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TN-07 Looks Like it Could Flip for the Democrats

by Rod Williams, Nov. 16, 2025- The above analysis shows that the 7th Congressional District is winnable by the Democratic nominee Aftyn Behn. It is hard to believe, but the analysis seems solid. 

I have not voted yet and am in a quandary about what to do. On the one hand, I think Trump needs to be stopped, Congress needs to reassert its authority, and Congress needs to conduct oversight.  I see Trump as a threat to America's continued existence as a democracy.  Republicans in Congress have shown no appetite for holding Trump accountable. In the abstract, I want to see Democrats retake the House. 

On the other hand, the Democratic voters of Tennessee's seventh congressional district nominated the most progressive candidate of the candidates running. Aftyn Behn has been a community organizer for Tennessee Justice Center and a community organizer for Indivisible and has advocated for an end to cash bail, defunding the police, and abolishing the Electoral College, and has advocated rolling back Tennessee's restriction on child genital mutilation procedures commonly called "gender affirming care." (1)  She has the endorsement of the Progressive Democrats of America.

As much as I want to see Trump's march toward authoritarianism stopped, I don't think I can vote for Aftyn Behn. I could have voted for Bo Mitchell; but not Aftyn Behn. I held my nose in 2024 and voted for Kamala Harris. That does not mean I will continue to vote for far-left candidates,  especially candidates for lesser offices.

I have watched videos and debates and visited his website, and familiarized myself with Republican candidate Matt Van Epps. I voted in the Republican primary and voted for him. I familiarized myself with all the Republican candidates running and perceived Van Epps to be the best-qualified and least Trumpy of the field. In this year's primary, I had to vote early due to being out of town on election day, and between the time I voted and primary election day, President Trump endorsed Van Epps. I was quite surprised. If I believed VanEpps would stand firm for conservative values against Trump's authoritarian nationalism, and he would not be just another Trump lackey, he would get my vote. 

If this were normal times, I would not think twice about for whom I would vote. Looking simply at their position on the issues, I would vote for Van Epps in a heartbeat. There would be no contest. However, these are not normal times.  Checking Trump's authoritarianism is the issue that may trump all others for me, but even that has limits. I can vote center-left in order to check Trump; I am not sure I can vote far-left. When I chose to vote for Harris over Trump, more was at stake. I was actually voting for who would occupy the highest office in the land, and Trump had attempted a coup, and Harris had not. In voting for one of 435 House members, less is at stake so the weight of the pressure to vote against my principles in order to curtail Trump's authoritarian polices is less intense. 

When Democrats did not stand a chance of winning the 7th, I had decided my vote didn't matter and I would just sit out the election. Now, that my vote would matter, I still may sit out the election but can not do so with the same peace of mind.

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