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Of all the professors in the country, one guy in South Dakota stood up for Trump

By David Mastio
The Center Square

Erich Eischen is unique.

According to Federal Election Commission data, he is the only person who lists his employer as a college or university in the United States who made a contribution of $1,000 or more to Donald Trump's presidential campaign so far in the 2024 election cycle.

Such donors are a dime a dozen for President Joe Biden. There are 289, in fact, according to the FEC. Biden has more higher ed support at the University of California alone, than Trump has in the whole country. And Biden's support comes from schools that will tell you they are the most prestigious – Cornell, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale, Penn, NYU, Georgetown and on and on.

Where does Trump's single big dollar contribution come from? A Dakota State University tax and accounting instructor. According to the school's website, he teaches introductory tax and accounting classes as well as more advanced courses. He has taught in the United Arab Emirates, China and Morocco and studied at the University of Denver. He did not respond to email and phone requests for comment.

Critics of higher education say that the disparity in donations is a sign that universities are out of touch with the rest of America which funds them. "We hear a lot about 'diversity' and the need for a higher education sector that 'looks like America, but higher education looks about as much like America as the National Hockey League does," Glenn Reynolds, author of "The New School: How the Information Age will Save American Education from Itself" told The Center Square. "It's a political monoculture ... Taxpayers are beginning to wonder why they support an industry that regards so many of them as outright enemies."

In recent elections, colleges and universities have become more and more lucrative sources of donations primarily for Democrats. The University of California system was Joe Biden's 10th largest donor in 2020 with nearly $20 million dollars in donations to all candidates, according to Open Secrets. Over 97% of its donations went to Democrats.

Comment

Brad Adams (not verified)

8 February 2024

Shouldn’t the real question be, if America’s best, brightest and most educated people from the best universities are universally opposed to Trump, shouldn’t we be giving their opinions a little more weight? Name one other area in life where we are inclined to disregard the opinions of the best educated in favor of the less educated. Would you prefer that your doctor, lawyer, engineer or accountant share your political bias over being smartest? ••••Publisher's note: Brad, you draw the conclusion that these academics are, indeed, "America's brightest." Highly dubious.

Matthew (not verified)

8 February 2024

I would want the doctor, lawyer, engineer, or accountant that has experience and wisdom from years of practicing their trades in the real world. When's the last time a university professor has solved any relevant problems or issues? People who go to, work for, or teach at the "best universities" are not necessarily the smartest. Where did Ted Kaczynski work and go to school?

Matthew (not verified)

9 February 2024

The special counsel investigating Biden just released that with Biden's current mental condition and memory loss, he's not fit to be charged for hiding classified documents. This is the candidate who all these smart university professors are putting thousands of their dollars on... To me, that doesn't seem like a smart move. But what do I know, I only attended SSCC and OU-Chillicothe.

Brad Adams (not verified)

9 February 2024

Matthew, the Special Prosecutor said nothing of the sort. While they questioned his recall of the specific dates of certain events, they were very clear that the reason Biden was not charged while Trump was charged for a similar action was because Trump refused to return the documents and even took steps to obstruct the investigation by having someone attempt to hide the documents while Biden notified the National Archives and returned them immediately. Generally speaking, the better educated a person is the more likely they are to not be influenced by mischaracterizations of facts. Critical and independent thinking skills are at the root of their process for evaluating information. •••••Publisher's note: That's exactly what Biden told FDR last month.

Matthew (not verified)

9 February 2024

In my Country, a person (including an honorable former President) is considered not guilty of anything. Until the government has proven a crime beyond a reasonable doubt through due process of law. But when Investigators consider the abilities and capacities of a potential suspect (Joe Biden), those authorities can use that discretion not to prosecute a feeble elderly person, an incompetent soul, or a young child. Not to mention to take into account whatever political bias the DOJ has. While they're pressured by the swamp dwellers who hate Pres. Trump, as to what actions to take to advance a corrupt government agenda.

Brad Adams (not verified)

9 February 2024

There is a strain of anti-intellectualism in the Republican Party and MAGA in particular. The only logical reason for this is that we’ll educated people are less easily fooled.

Matthew (not verified)

9 February 2024

It's "well educated" not "we'll educated".

Matthew (not verified)

9 February 2024

I'd rather be a problem solver and a producer than an "intellectual." That's the type of people I prefer to vote for, logically. Joey Biden is none of those three things.

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