<p>How many people-ish are involved in that club?
Is it tough for Democrats on campus (if they can defend what they believe)?</p>
<p>Defending the undefendable, huh :)</p>
<p>Haha! Nice</p>
<p>Whats college democrats anyway? Name is kinda ambiguous. Is it college students who are pro-Democratic Party? or is it students advocating democracy? participating in democracy ? I am lost :D</p>
<p>Pro-Democratic party</p>
<p>I dont think you should have many problems. And many friends. Just teasing ;)</p>
<p>All joking aside, from what I’ve seen and heard there probably isn’t a strong College Democrats group at Hillsdale, and that’s probably a bit of a shame. The best way, I think, one learns to articulate his or her views in sound, rational, intelligent ways is to be outside of the echo chamber. That’s really the problem with most universities these days: they tend to represent a monolithic (liberal) political viewpoint, so their (liberal) students simply hear their own views echoed back while they nod their heads in a zombie-like fashion. Most are rarely called upon to defend their views or to consider the intellectual impetus behind opposing viewpoints. It’s really a tragedy of the modern academy from an intellectual viewpoint.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard and seen that at Hillsdale, while most students lean conservative, they ARE called upon to articulate the intellectual arguments behind their ideological beliefs. And if they are coming to Hillsdale from the public education system, they are probably well-steeped in the thinking of “the other side” as well, so Hillsdale offers the “diversity” public education claims to value but seldom provides. This is a good thing, though debates with a strong College Democrats group would be beneficial, too.</p>
<p>I was a student at Hillsdale when the College Democrats started (Fall 2004/Spring 2005?). They had clever posters for their first meeting that said “Because not everything is black and white,” providing ample proof that they didn’t get much out of the core curriculum, but nevertheless wanted to try and poke fun at it (it happens). </p>
<p>Admin is a bit ridiculous about all-school e-mails: they do not provide student access to listserves and thus every all-student / all-campus e-mail has to be run through one of the dean’s offices and then e-mailed by some administrator in order to reach “All Students” (again, at least when I was there-- it’s a bit silly, but does save your e-mail box from excess student spam). The College Democrats, opting to circumvent this process, went through a student directory and typed out every student’s name (e.g., if your name was “John Thomas Smith”, your Dale Mail was “jtsmith@hilllsdale[dot]edu”, not too hard to figure out but definitely a doozy to compile for 1,200 students). Alas, these enterprising Democrats made a notable error: despite their technological savvy and wherewithal, they neglected to use the blind carbon copy [bcc] box and went ahead and carbon copied [cc’d] their list of the entire student body, allowing students to easily click “reply to all” to their e-mail and reach everyone to whom the Democrats sent their e-mail. </p>
<p>Within 10 minutes of their e-mail announcing that the first meeting of the College Democrats would take place in Phillips Auditorium at said time/date, one prominent College Republican replied-all with just seven words:</p>
<p>“What row will you be meeting in?”</p>
<p>Years later, I still laugh.</p>
<hr>
<p>Don’t be a tool, and you will be fine at Hillsdale. End of story.</p>
<p>dale, that is one of the funniest Hillsdale stories I’ve ever heard. Thanks. :)</p>
<p>gimmechocolate: LOVE your post. Couldn’t agree more.
Thanks you all for the answers!</p>
<p>There are plenty though not a majority of Democrats on campus. You’ll have no trouble finding your posse. and, you’ll not been spat upon, have feces thrown at your, be called “insenstive” “uncompassionate” or “a hater.” Just be ready to tell your profs and other students why confiscated your hard-earned tax dollars to pay for someone’s abortion is what our federal government should be doing. </p>
<p>dale - great story!</p>
<p>Oh btw: the College Dems are still peddling that “it’s not all black and white” T-shirt.</p>
<p>Not all Democrats are pro-choice</p>
<p>is that what “black and white” tee shirts pertain to ???</p>
<p>Meg: I’m sure you’re right about that… just ask Bart Stupak. Or the late Bob Casey who was not allowed to speak at the Democratic National Convention when he was the democratic governor of PA (and he was pro-life).</p>
<p>Anyway, you’ll find people of every stripe at Hillsdale.</p>
<p>It occurred to me that I was pretty snarky at you Meg. I apologize for that. </p>
<p>But your statement that not all democrats are pro-choice is one of the those blanket statements that simply wouldn’t fly at H. Hillsdale will want you to be able to support and defend your position. </p>
<p>For instance, in this regard, abortion is a basic of the democratic party platform. For a democrat to be pro-life doesn’t fit. And while there may be some members of the party who are not strongly pro-choice, I can’t think of one who will really stand on the pro-life principle and remain in the democratic party. This is just the kind of argument you would have to support using documented sources - and it would be so no matter what position you took on any subject.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you are able, take a Hillsdale tour and ask to speak to one of the student members of the Campus Dems. They’ll be able to give you a good feel about just how they are fitting in.</p>
<p>I agree that it is helpful to have some philosophical contrast. There is some merit to having real “diversity” (not just the skin color and sexual orientation type). I’m a little sensitive to this whole subject. My daughter may be in the minority at the school she chooses to attend, and I am hoping that if this is the case, people at the school will exhibit the tolerance and open-mindedness that they claim to prize. </p>
<p>So…I’m hoping that Democrats at Hillsdale will feel liked a valued part of the student body because I look to this college as living out what all the other colleges espouse. It is (obviously) intellectually stimulating to have people around who challenge you, who argue from a position with which you disagree, especially given the political climate now. </p>
<p>I do think that you can be pro-life and be a Democrat. You don’t have to agree to all tenets of a political party to be a part of it. However, it does seem to be the case that when you start questioning some major portions, you might be on the road out. </p>
<p>Anyway, I imagine Hillsdale as a place in which there is lively debate, with no penalty for disagreeing with the mainstream. I hope I’m right.</p>
<p>chauchat,</p>
<p>From everything I’ve seen and heard, you are correct.</p>