King--who is registered to vote, but not affiliated with a party--has no problem with political science professors who are forthright about their politics.
"I think professors are also members of society, and they're allowed to state their preferences," King says.
Professor of Economics Richard Cooper questions how much voter registration indicates a professor's political leanings.
Massachusetts is so liberal, Cooper notes, that the most important elections are often the Democratic primaries. In order to have political voices in the state, many professors choose, logically, to register as Democrats.
In addition, Cooper says, party affiliation can have little to do with political ideas or voting decisions. During the Nixon administration, Cooper says, Federal Reserve Chair Arthur Burns asked him to serve on the Federal Reserve Board. Burns told Cooper that he was embarrassed to ask him his party affiliation.
Cooper replied that he was a registered Democrat in Connecticut. And Burns--who had served as a counselor to Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon--confessed that he, too, was a Democrat.
Mansfield says that his position in the political minority makes him want to speak out on issues like gay rights.
"It has that perverse effect," he says. "I feel that if I don't speak up, nobody will. I would be happy to be quiet and hold my peace on many of these issues, the latest cause."
And while his minority status makes Mansfield more outspoken, it could stifle the voices of other conservative faculty members. Cooper says that in a conversation with a government professor, he lamented that the U.S. had missed an opportunity by failing to take military action against Yugoslavia.
The government professor, Cooper recalls, agreed--but admitted to being embarrassed to say so because the view was considered too "hawkish."
Still, Mansfield aside, most academics do not believe the political affiliation of professors squashes debate or unduly influences students' political beliefs.
Even Mitchell--whose job security depends on the conservatism of students, professors and everyone else--isn't worried about brainwashing.
"Hopefully, people are all bright enough to make their own choices," he says.