<p>Hi, I am a prospective Yalie and I was wondering as to the prescence of conservatism at Yale. I am a vocal conservative republican so I am trying to find out about the number of conservatives and also whether there is hostility to conservative viewpoint.</p>
<p>It may seem like an odd question, but from what I hear some colleges are actually hostile to certain political positions. I figure Yale, being intelligent and all, should be open to diversity is this true or am I just hoping?</p>
<p>ohhhh republicans...</p>
<p>:(</p>
<p>You're fine. There are plenty of conservatives here. Granted, most of the university student body is pretty liberal, I definitely don't think you'll feel out of place. I'm a fiscal conservative, and there are a lot of like-minded individuals like that here. You'd probably find less social conservatives, though.</p>
<p>My complement to Yale is that it was one of only two schools from all of the schools my daughter has visited to date that actually mentioned the name of a Republican during the information session (It has been a bunch on months but I believe that in both cases they were on-campus speakers.)</p>
<p>I am a very vocal social conservative and about a moderate on economic issues.
It seems that some other conservatives are wondering the same thing about these schools, from that thread.</p>
<p>Well actually I am a very vocal fiscal conservative, more tacit on social issues. I'm really a classical liberal if you want to get precise.</p>
<p>Yale has a small but very vocal population of conservatives, which are found in disproportionately large numbers in the Yale Political Union. So you'll be fine.</p>
<p>The</a> Party of the Right</p>
<p>You may want to check this out.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Yale has a small but very vocal population of conservatives,"
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</p>
<p>Yay that makes me happy. I am starting to think the whole liberal enclave conception of higher education is really just sensationalism.</p>
<p>In addition to the three conservative parties in the Yale Political Union, there used to be at least two conservative student-run publications and a Yale Republican group.</p>
<p>"Yay that makes me happy. I am starting to think the whole liberal enclave conception of higher education is really just sensationalism."</p>
<p>Yes and no. Some of it is sensationalism, however it's not totally unfounded... I'd say a very strong majority of the students are still liberal.</p>
<p>Admissions Addict, the college Republicans are currently little more than a front group for the YPU's Conservative Party (Conservative Party members dominate its leadership), while the Yale Free Press (one of the conservative publications you're likely referring to) is universally recognized as a front group for the Party of the Right (all of its contributors and editors are POR members). The Union really does dominate conservatism at Yale in way that it doesn't dominate the liberal political scene, with the exception of groups whose conservatism is tied up entirely in Christianity - Yale Students for Christ and the like. But groups like the Republicans and the Free Press as well as the Yale College Libertarians, the Objectivist Study Group at Yale, Choose Life at Yale, etc are dominated by YPU parties on the right of the YPU - without any exception that I'm aware of, each only by one party - massive infighting is another prominent characteristic of the right at Yale.</p>
<p>You may want to cut the passive-aggressive-liberals-are-teh-suck stance should you be admitted, however.</p>
<p>Good luck being a social conservative. There are gay people on campus, people are generally open-minded, etc. An economic/small government conservative would be accepted with open arms, but I think a lot of young people have issues with intolerance and prejudice.</p>
<p>I think conservative can mean several things: </p>
<p>If by conservative you mean wealthy, waspy prep-school culture, there's a fair bit of that at yale. It's small but not insignificant, and often yalies like to poke fun at themselves for going to a school that's steeped in this kind of history. If you're not an obnoxious snob (which is a very small percentage of people in this category), it's not a big deal. </p>
<p>If by conservative you mean you espouse various conservative political tenets, that's not so much of a problem. A lot of people might not agree with you, but if you present your ideas intelligently they will be met with respect. If you think that McCain's tax plan is preferable to Obama's, power to you. If you try to argue that gay people are sinners because the bible says so, you will probably not be met with so much respect. </p>
<p>If by conservative you mean the term that people use to entitle themselves to judge other people who are different in some way, you'll find that there are small enclaves at yale that are receptive to this kind of thinking. Most of these people are ******bags, and are only friends with each other. If by identifying as conservative you think it's ok to not be sympathetic towards basic human rights issues, to blindly support antagonistic foreign policy, or to ridicule others, you'll have to look for one of these niches. They're a very small component of yale, and are not particularly well liked. Most yale students have very good critical thinking skills, and these people do not.</p>
<p>Now now. CLAY is NOT a Tory front group. We have some crossover, but the relationship is much different than the other groups you mention.</p>
<p>Also, you can see from the previous couple of posts that social conservatives especially are not looked well on here at Yale. Both Miles and Kwiji make ridiculous and baseless attacks that simply assume the truth of liberal doctrine, and the latter actually criticizes people because they make judgments! But fear not, for these lightweight liberals have likely never presented their talking points on the floor of one parties on the right side of the YPU. We are a tight-knit community that pursues truth regardless of the social implications, and we would give each of the previous posters a lesson or two in "critical thinking skills" should they ever be brave enough to bring their hate-filled and thoughtless rhetoric to our floors.</p>
<p>bleh. i dont understand social conservatism, at all. if you go to yale, it'd probably be easier just to be vocal about your economic, not social, conservative beliefs... although i'm sure yalies are largely open-minded, i find it hard to believe that, for example, protests against abortion or gay rights would be appreciated..</p>
<p>Social conservatism is grounded for me personally in biblical principles, because it is an extension of my religious faith. The entire conception of anti-gay conservatism is really flawed, the Christian faith is about embracing people regardless of differences. Do we disagree about a lifestyle of homosexuality? Yep. But the people are the ones that matter not what they do.</p>
<p>I find this conception of so called "intolerance" does not spill over to the other sins like lying or stealing or cheating on a spouse. Even if you disagree, social conservatism is from the viewpoint that all our actions are choices and that choice is the bad thing, not the person.
Lying is a sin, and I do not lie and am firmly against it. But would I protest liars? No. That would not make any sense, similarly why would I protest gay groups? That would actually be counter-productive to spreading the message of CHRIST. </p>
<p>I think some people on here may have skewed conceptions of Christian principles and should read what CHRIST said and not what people do.</p>