<p>So... how conservative IS the University of Chicago? Conservative only to the most liberal of liberals, or actually palpably conservative? In honesty, I don't know exactly how to interpret the word "conservative" in conjunction with UChi, since I'm not sure whether most people are referring to the alignment of things social or political. I understand that it doesn't have much of a drug culture, and that the economics department comes up a lot when discussing its conservative bent. But is there a marked lack of counterculture? (Though wouldn't you say this is ameliorated by a lack of culture in general? I hear the campus is so heavily policed in order to allow the immediate arrest of anyone suspected of resuscitating "fun.")</p>
<p>Anyhow, I'm just curious. Will my leftist hackles be up at all times? Will I be blacklisted for my communist sympathies? Will I be able to find solace in a secret underground liberal society where revolutionary politicos on the verge of exile or imprisonment gather to celebrate liberty with music and drink and incite the people to rebellion? I must know whether I can be assured of the superiority of my political philosophy at all times.</p>
<p>from what i've heard, the u of c is a place with people with a TON of different political philosophies. i think all views of life coexist upon this campus. i personally am kind of conservative (at least economically) but i also know a liberal who's applying to the U of C. i really don't think u of c is the place though where anybody would feel stifled by expressing certain opinions (and remember that basically all college faculties, except for business and econ, are very liberal)</p>
<p>From what I have seen and heard as a parent of a current third year student at the U of Chicago, the beauty of the school is the wide divergence of opinions and political views at the school. Actually, politically the school tends to be have a much stronger student democratic bent then republican, but students will discuss all sides of an issue. My child does not do drugs, but she knows kids who smoke pot, but claims that is about it for drugs. There is a fair amount of tolerance for drinking on campus as long as underages keep it discreet. The economics department is known for its conservative bent, but I wouldn't say that that alone makes the school conservative. My child is pretty open to all sorts of opinions and I would find it hard to pigeon hole her as liberal or conservative and I believe that that is true of many of the students. More of a free spirit who goes with her beliefs and conscience, which may change from issue to issue, but does not necessarily follow any specific trend. I think that you can find just about any type of group that you wish to associate with at the school.</p>
<p>I have friends who are emphatically non-liberals, but are voting Obama.</p>
<p>I also have friends who went to the Keep Coke on Campus rally.</p>
<p>I also have superactivist, treehugger, ACLU friends.</p>
<p>I would label myself a "cautious liberal." My ideologies fall very much in line with the Democratic Party, but I'm not going to stand here and tell you that Republicans are ruining this country and that if we only had all Democrats in Congress that everything would be perfect.</p>
<p>My ideologies don't necessarily fall in line with those of my friends', but it's obviously not a big deal to them (or to me) that we tend to disagree. In fact, it's nice to have differing opinions around.</p>
<p>S1 chose Chicago over another school because alternatives to very liberal ideology were not well received. S1 is himself quite liberal, he just thought it was wrong not to listen respectfully to all points of view.</p>
<p>S is very excited about having folks to debate with at Chicago. He got into one of those discussions when he stayed overnight at Shoreland and wrote about it in one of his essays. While he's pretty liberal, he is eager to discuss other points of view. This was one of the big attractions of Chicago for him.</p>
<p>I'm a moderate, but lean a bit liberal. I think Chicago is much more liberal than it is conservative, although I think people are more willing to accept conservatives here than at peer universities... given that they're able to debate in an intelligent manner, that is.</p>
<p>I don't think Chicago is anything like a conservative campus, politically. What differentiates it from some, but not all other elitist colleges is that it probably has more of a critical mass of conservative students, albeit still a minority. And they feel more comfortable there than they might elsewhere because the university's culture of constant, open, respectful debate pretty much assures that they aren't going to be hooted down or silenced on political correctness grounds. So there's a diversity of views -- including lots and lots of idiosyncratic ones, as you might imagine. Chicago students really don't come in standard ideological packages much.</p>
<p>Both my kids, and most of their friends, are definitely on the left end of the spectrum.</p>
<p>I consider myself a moderate Republican, and I've never felt uncomfortable here. That said, we're far from a majority of students (maybe 25% would identify as Republican or right-leaning libertarian). Conservatives on campus are by-and-large "country club" Republicans--socially moderate and fiscally conservative. I'd wager that only a small portion (less than 10%) of undergrads are very conservative on social issues. Almost all of my friends are liberal or very liberal, and I'm always impressed by the respect they show for my political beliefs, which I try to reciprocate. On occasion, you'll come across some obnoxious people who will be dismissive or hostile towards opposing viewpoints, but they are few and far between.</p>
<p>I don't think the point is how conservative we are, but how open-minded we are. If the campus is really open-minded, then a liberal should live comfortably on a conservative campus, vice versa. On that note, I believe Chicago has no tyranny of any ideology.</p>
<p>Hmm, this sounds about in line with what I thought. Namely, that Chicago is only slightly more "conservative" than the mass of generally liberal institutions of higher learning. Thanks, guys. I'm glad to hear there's a varied culture of politics. I'm the kind of person who's never truly decided on any even slightly ambiguous issue, so I cherish debate and resent the pressure to conform to a prevailing ideology. And I really dislike the practice of discounting ideologies based on some kind of handwavey negative-associating gloss. Sounds like I'll enjoy myself.</p>
<p>I'm used to having friends of varying ideologies, also. I grew up with atheist Democrats and fundamentalist Christians, so I've gotten to know those types, at least. I'm liberal, but I don't 100% throw my weight behind the Democratic party. I'm generally more concentrated on leftist political theory than moderate-Democrat positions, idealist that I am. I do try to support activism I believe in, however, so I'm glad to hear it's healthy on campus. And it sounds like I'll have plenty of opportunity in the next three years to Socratically puzzle out my proclivities.</p>
<p>CountingDown, hopefully your son and I will meet! We'll be the first at the barricades come the revolution.</p>