Among the top 15 schools, which are liberal/conservative?

<p>I've read that Claremont-McKenna is somewhat right of the middle or maybe that is just in comparison to Pomona, which is liberal. Apparently C-M's known for business and politics. Perhaps the business side causes the conservatism. I also read (be careful what you read, right?) that Pomona students dream about how they will contribute to the world, while Claremont-M students think in terms of the number of figures in their salaries. Generalizations do distort what one's actual experience will be, but as my son the applicant says, there can be a grain of truth in the generalizations.</p>

<p>Correlation between brains and liberalism? You decide.</p>

<p>BTW I heard Ronald McDonald's Hamburger U. is conservative. It was one of GW Bush's safeties along with Yale.</p>

<p>Wouldn't it be great if universities were neither? That your prof present all sides, encourage discussion and debate and RESPECT for differing views. Colleges shouldn't indocterate students (captive audience). Every campus should have "Students for Academic Freedom" chapter. I've seen profs bully and make fun of students in class if their views are different.</p>

<p>Conservative viewpoints are welcome at the great elite universities, so long as those holding such viewpoints keep those opinions to themselves</p>

<p>Larry Summers found this out at Harvard, and he's not even a conservative</p>

<p>I went to college as a conservative (a rather right-wing one at that, too), and I never felt that anyone attacked me because of my beliefs -- I mean, sure, we had some great political debates, but no hard feelings on either side.</p>

<p>I think the student bodies at "liberal" schools are more tolerant than people assume they are. I suppose the professors are probably a different story, but luckily, we don't talk politics in science classes too much. :)</p>

<p>Notre Dame isn't a top university? Musta missed that memo.</p>

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As far as conservatism and liberalism there is no home for many of us. I truly wish for a new party that I could wholly identify with. I agree with conservatives on most budget and financial issues, but side with liberals on many social ones. When it comes time for an election, I must decide what issues to vote as no platform comes close to representing my goals.

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<p><a href="http://www.lp.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.lp.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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I did hesitate with Swarthmore because I did get mixed vibes when I visited.

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<p>That's because the terms "liberal" and "conservative" have such muddled definitions in popular usage.</p>

<p>For example, Swarthmore's Quaker roots have resulted in some strong anti-war sentiments in the college community on occasion. Is being anti-war "liberal"? On the other hand, they hosted Navy college education programs during WWII and much of the pioneering research on nuclear physics that led to the development of the atom bomb was done at the Bartol Institute on Swarthmore's campus. Is education of Navy officers and nuclear research "conservative"?</p>

<p>The founders of the school were heavily involved in the abolishion of slavery, including the Underground Railroad. Is abolishing slavery "liberal"?</p>

<p>The founder of the school (Lucretia Mott Coffin) and one of its most famous graduates (Alice Paul) were two of the key figures in the woman's suffrage movement. Is campaigning for the right for women to vote in the United States "liberal"?</p>

<p>The college and its board of managers has been strongly opposed to government mandates on students. During the 1950's, Swarthmore pulled out of the government student aid program and replaced the dollars from its own funds when Sen. McCarthy required loyalty oaths as a condition of student aid. Is getting the government off students' backs "conservative"?</p>

<p>Culturally, the college is a bit of throwback to the old-school style of expecting students at a top college to take academics seriously and work hard. Is that "conservative values"?</p>

<p>I don't know. To me, the terms have no meaning anymore. They are just buzzwords, usually in the context of 30-second political posturing soundbites.</p>

<p>northwestern is pretty split, overall more moderate, the student body, that is. Obviously leaning liberal though</p>

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There is a reason its called Kremlin on the Crum....

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<p>Yeah. A moniker coined by Spiro Agnew. </p>

<p>Google him. He's best known for referring to the press as "Nattering Nabobs of Negativity".</p>

<p>Spiro Agnew...He could have been president if his scandal bust open after Watergate.</p>

<p>Just imagine President Spiro Agnew...it would have been legendary!</p>

<p>What I don't see so far is a discussion about how departments and fields tend to be conservative or liberal, or conservative or liberal at different universities, and how this can make a bigger difference to what you want to study. If you're a scientist, or want to be one, you will probably see a much more standardized range of views; if you're a political science or literature major, departments vary widely, and you may want to know where you're going before you get there. I think certain departments are much more conservative than the image of the university generally is.</p>

<p>The only top conservative schools would be Notre Dame, Washington and Lee,and Wake Forest.</p>

<p>WIlliam and Mary, Davidson, Rice, Princeton, Dartmouth are all more moderate than their peers.</p>

<p>Big research schools like Michigan, UCLA, Virginia, North Carolina would all be conservative but none would be considered a top 15 school anyway. UVa is most likely to support Jesse Helms and George "maccaca" Allen is an alum.</p>

<p>The only top conservative schools would be Notre Dame, Washington and Lee,and Wake Forest.</p>

<p>WIlliam and Mary, Davidson, Rice, Princeton, Dartmouth are all more moderate than their peers.</p>

<p>Big research schools like Michigan, UCLA, Virginia, North Carolina would all be conservative but none would be considered a top 15 school anyway. UVa is most likely to support Jesse Helms and George "maccaca" Allen is an alum.</p>

<p>I want to ask how can University of Chicago be liberal? Aren't there economics department full of Milton Friedman's disciples? There is even a name for conservative economics called "the Chicago School"?</p>

<p>fun fact: At Princeton, 100% of reported faculty giving for the presidential race went to a democratic candidate.</p>

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Big research schools like Michigan, UCLA, Virginia, North Carolina would all be conservative but none would be considered a top 15 school anyway. UVa is most likely to support Jesse Helms and George "maccaca" Allen is an alum.

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<p>UCLA is NOT conservative.</p>

<p>Haverford has co-ed dorms by room. There is no "middle of the road" at that school.</p>

<p>All of the schools mentioned above are liberal. At Notre Dame, the student body is half liberal/half conservative. The Administration is predominantly liberal, the faculty runs about 3:2 liberal:conservative.</p>

<p>UCLA's about as conservative as a convention of Kucinich supporters.</p>

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The top colleges are liberal (among other things) partly because most of the (e.g male) tenured professors live in a socialist-style academic bubble, often have little if any real world experience in a regular job, and sometimes sleep with (and thus often adopt the views of) the co-eds in their classes.

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<p>LOL! </p>

<p>And conservatives don't ever live in a bubble and get caught cheating w/ an intern (much less visiting a house of ill-repute).</p>

<p>The term "liberal" has become all twisted over the years - now, you have to use a term like "progressive" in order not to be labeled a commie (not that Communists were ever truly liberal - if anything, they were anything but).</p>

<p>Remember, the Founding Fathers were liberals, Abe Lincoln was a liberal, etc.</p>