I know conservative students who were happy at Vandy as well. I think you can find campuses with a wide variety of viewpoints represented throughout the South. I might avoid NE liberal arts colleges due to their small size and their homogeneous political orientation, but larger schools should have all viewpoints well-represented.
We are a liberal/ moderate family but my eldest is at Alabama and has enjoyed having a variety of views on campus. I don’t know about invited speakers, although Trump did attend a football game in 2019.
She says, and I agree, that being able to understand and, at least to a degree, empathise with others’ perspectives, even when you don’t agree, is a crucial life skill. Without this, I don’t see how we make our way through these changing times.
I do understand the need for many people to want to know there will be a safe enough space for them on campus: be it the Liberatarian Club, or LBGTQ+ Group, or Hillel. Being faced with opposing beliefs, particularly ones that challenge your right to exist, can be truly scary, and not everyone has the self regulation skills to deal with it on a regular basis.
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Of course, there are always those who try to be deliberately inflammatory, but expect their opponents to be civil to them. Historical examples would be groups inviting speakers like Khalid Abdul Muhammed and Meir Kahane.
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@EconPop , I agree with you that colleges were an early battlefield for Academic Freedom at various junctures in American history, particularly after the First and Second World Wars. And Amherst seemed to be at the center of more than its share of such controversies as seen in both the example you gave and in the infamous Alexander Meiklejohn case which IMO inspired an entire generation of progressive thinking about the mission and aims of liberal education.
But, by and large, these were debates between very wealthy people, people wealthy enough to attend college in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For the purposes of this thread, I am positing the 1960s as part of “our own times”, including the whole notion of putting people from different backgrounds together in the hopes that they will get along as an ideal, if somewhat illusive, addition to the mission of higher education.
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Yes. It is then the campus community member’s choice whether or not to protest in the attempt of making change, ultimately deciding whether or not to continue attending/supporting/working with the college.
The notion is somewhat inherent to the structure of education. As students move up in grade levels, they tend to move to schools with more student diversity, although there certainly are exceptions. A public elementary school is typically fairly small, with students from a small area attending. A public middle school may be larger, drawing students from multiple elementary schools. A public high school may draw students from multiple middle schools. A community college may draw students from a larger area that includes several high schools, as well as non-traditional students. A state university may draw students from the entire state (or at least a significant region of the state), as well as a few out of state students. A college with national (or international) appeal may draw students from all over the country (or beyond).
For most colleges (i.e. those trying to be “general” colleges, rather than those focusing on a specific demographic niche), “diversity” is something that they at least have to pay attention to in terms of marketing, specifically to try to ensure that students from all possible demographic groups are willing to consider the college, rather than feeling that the college is unwelcoming to them.
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Dissenting voices, yes, but universities have no obligation to give a platform to racists or kooks, and MTG qualifies as both.
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And, for the vast majority of colleges that charge $50K and above for tuition, that means an whole lot of money for financial aid.
Hence, the saying “put your money where your mouth is.” 
Especially so for private schools.
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I get this was a branch from another thread, but I am lost in the purpose; it seems to have gone off on a political tangent. What exactly does the OP need: recommendations of schools, opinions on the schools listed at the top, opinions about free speech on campus?
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Sorry, to clarify: That is, if a college invites an obvious choice of speaker that is incredibly intolerant and does not hold the intention of having civil discourse. Then the student must decide what course of action to take (or not take).
This is the original question.
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Note that the vast majority of college students attend public schools, even though the number of private colleges may be high (due to some of them being very small).
I am going to be as polite as I can in responding to you. Neither my children nor I need “to develop our minds into critical thinking”, we do not accept what is “force-fed”, we are not “looking for one viewpoint”, we are able “to determine what truth is”, and we are certainly “not in trouble for the rest of our lives.”
We are a highly educated and informed Jewish family. My children attended extremely liberal NE boarding schools for all of high school. We are looking for a non-religious school that allows independent thinking. My children have friends of all colors, nationalities, religions, and sexual preferences. They are both politically aware and believe in small government and conservative ideals. They believe in equal opportunities, not equal results. We also understand that these are not popular ideas in college.
We want a school where Candice Owens and Louis Farrakhan are able to come speak and as many people who are interested can attend and respectfully sit and listen and make their own judgements and discuss. We want professors who do not teach based on what they believe, but give both viewpoints in a neutral manner and mandate cordial discourse so that all views can be heard.
My original question had some background that is similar to the above and asked:
We have been doing a good deal of research, but do not have much first person advice or knowledge. If anyone has input, I would appreciate it.
In order of most to less conservative:
Texas A&M
UVA
Clemson
University of Florida
and am I wrong that these schools are more liberal? I would love a ranking of these schools in order of most to least conservative.
University of Wisconsin
University of Texas Austin
university of Michigan
University of North Carolina
Vanderbilt
Georgetown
Any schools, not on this list, would be appreciated as well. Not interested in small or liberal arts schools. Has a 34 ACT.
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It often is not the college choosing the speaker, but a student group doing so and reserving space under rules that allow any student group to reserve space for an event. Where the student group chooses to be deliberately inflammatory (by choice of speaker), it is not something the college really wants (but may have to allow under its own rules), but the college ends up having to deal with the fallout (especially if a riot gets incited or something like that means that some large segment of current or potential students is unavoidably alienated no matter what the college does).
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Oooh true true.
I would suggest it is still the community’s responsibility to speak against such open policy, then, if the college wants to create, sustain and encourage an intentional mission for civil discourse and positive social change in the world.
And any student or family who does not like the way a university designs their intention (which may be perceived as an infringement upon liberty to some) may choose a different college experience.
My UW grad did not find the university particularly liberal or conservative – with 30,000 undergrads, it’s hard to generalize. The city of Madison is a politically liberal enclave in a otherwise largely red-ish state (apart from Milwaukee), so that can skew some people’s perceptions of the university itself. Madison is also the capitol so if there are protests, it often happens not too far from campus (though far enough that can be avoided if you want).
As a professor and spouse of a professor, I have to add that faculty don’t generally teach their own beliefs, in fact, they may present a position which is the opposite of their own viewpoint to push students to develop critical thinking skills. In my classes, students have no idea what my politics are. I’ve written plenty of letters of rec for students who are applying for positions contrary to my own values, which is as it should be, because my job is to prepare better thinkers, not clones of me.
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I suppose that is one way to view it - that this thread has, mostly in a general sense, become political. If someone poses a question about the culture of universities then it may seem natural for some to discuss the governance of schools. The artful ways in which a university does (or does not) run its campus has a direct impact on the culture.
Hi! Check out this link, which evaluates schools based on their codes of conduct, regulations and other policies surrounding expression. It might be instructive to your search.
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We too are a highly educated and informed Jewish (and Catholic) family. I went to Michigan where I saw everyone from George HW Bush to Timothy Leary speak. While I skew moderate to left of center, I was glad to see my own daughter both enroll in the business school (skews more conservative) and take liberal arts classes (more progressive) at the school she attends (not Michigan). She’s in a sorority, which also tends to skew more conservative. Big state universities have all points of view, even a school in as conservative a state as Alabama. That’s what makes them wonderful.
I appreciate your willingness to look at all points of view. I would love to see Candice Owens and Louis Farrakhan speak. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. (yes, that’s political) But the quote at the top really shows your preference in politics.
IMHO, searching for a school just based on politics is somewhat of a limiting factor. (I tried to get my daughter to look at schools like Georgia and Clemson, both in red states. I did so because why should I limit her exposure to one side of politics when the schools might be a perfect fit for her?) If your child tells you I don’t want to go to a liberal school, that’s cool. Their choice on where they are comfortable.
While everyone should raise their children as they see fit, I want my own kids to discover the world for themselves. I could have steered my daughter to Michigan or Wisconsin, whose student body reflects tends to my politics better, but I’m glad she is attending ASU which is a middle of the road school politically. Man, I hope she has professors from all points of view.
Clearly your call how you raise your kids, but why limit their potential exposure by searching out one particular viewpoint? Don’t send them to Berkeley because it is super progressive, or Texas A&M because it is super conservative. I guarantee you UC Berkeley has conservative professors and A&M has liberal ones. They should, and not be confined to neutral viewpoints.
Send your child where they will thrive, be happy, be exposed to multiple viewpoints, and not go into lots of debt. Again, IMHO, you don’t grow unless your viewpoints are challenged, and that’s what college is for.
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