<p>The 4 years I spent at Davidson were great, I loved every minute of it. By the way, we upper middle class white students do not have the plague, so I am not sure why there is such a concern about our presence on campus :)</p>
<p>Mattmom's point about self-segregation, even on campuses that laud their own diversity is quite true. I now attend a medical school that is very diverse-you can pass many asians etc, in the hallways and see them in class. But, if you would like to actually talk to one of them, you have to go sit at their table in the library-but this makes them somewhat uncomfortable. So, I have had it both ways, small, non-diverse LAC and medical school at a large university that is very diverse and it really isn't much different on a day to day basis-you make your friends, do your work, live your life. ;)</p>
<p>As others have pointed out, finding out that the student bodies at PRIVATE, small Liberal arts colleges are full of students from well-to-do families should come as a shock to no one. The vast majority of college-bound high school graduates attend one of their, not too far away, state universities- large, inexpensive and quite diverse and they do a fine job for the motivated student. For the student who wants a different experience, there are other choices.</p>
<p>At Davidson, I traveled abroad, belonged to a FRAT(social chairman for two years!!), met great people, had an education that was first-rate(good enough to be accepted by 4 medical schools). I am not religious and never found that to be an issue at school, I am politically liberal at present(or as my Dad says "until you start paying taxes") and never felt Davidson was really 'conservative' in thought, the students have mannerisms and dress that reflect their predominantly upper middle class rearing-but that can be seen at any LAC.</p>
<p>I wish you luck on your quest, there are so many good choices out there.</p>
<p>Social note: Eating house membership at Davidson is by self-selection--the women list their choices in the order of which they prefer, and depending on how many members each house is allowed to take in that year (school rule to to keep membership numbers balanced I think), they ususally get their first choice. It is a a pretty inclusive way of doing things. Note too that fraternity parties are generally open to all, except for semiformals and such--that means that people go to parties on Patterson Court (where the houses are) no matter what their affiliation or nonaffiliation. The houses are nonresidentia--they are places to hang out, not to sleep. Incidentally one of the newer additions to Patterson Court is Alpha Phi Alpha, a historically black fraternity. Liek other fraterniteis, it sponsors both parties and community service events. In fact, the various fraterniteis and eating hosues are major sponsors of and participants in community service events thorughout the year. Davidson in general has a very strong service ethic and many students do things like volunteer at the local commuinity center and food bank. Nonaffiliated students do as well, of course.</p>
<p>Yes, other schools have similar service traditions, but in the context of this discusison and based on my own present knowledge, it seems relevant to make this point about Davidson and to clarify the relatively inclusive nature of its Greek system.</p>
<p>If you can make the trip to visit Davidson, try to also visit Wake Forest and Elon which are not that far away. Elon seems to be rising in popularity. We liked all three for different reasons.</p>
<p>Transfers out of Davidson were mentioned earlier and I wanted to be sure that their numbers were known and put in context. Davidson enrolls about 465 first-time, first-year freshman. USNWR puts their freshman retention rate at 96% which means that fewer than 20 students transfer out (they had 19 transfer in last year). Compare Davidson's 96% retention rate to other LACs and you discover that only five colleges (Pomona at 99%, Bowdoin at 98% and Williams, Amherst & Carleton at 97%) were higher. I would say that, based on these numbers and in comparison to all other LACs (elite and not), there is a great deal of satisfaction among the student body about the experience that they are haviing at Davidson.</p>
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And by the way Wake is 35% frat and has residential fraternities, while Davidson is 25% frat, and does not have residential fraternities(although 43% of women are in 'eating houses', which is apparently the female version).
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<p>DSC, just to clarify-- my quote of ~50% involved in Greek life at Wake Forest was from memory. On their site, they do, however, quote it as 40%:</p>
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Approximately 40% of Wake Forest students are members of Greek letter organizations. There are 13 fraternities and 9 sororities on campus. Many independent students believe that the University is dominated by the "Greek scene." A common student perception on campus is that it is difficult to find a social life for yourself if you are not Greek.
<p>In addition, this article, admittedly written a while ago (1998), is an illuminating stance on the reasoning behind why sororities aren't allowed on the Davidson campus: President's</a> Statement on Sororities</p>
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By the way, we upper middle class white students do not have the plague, so I am not sure why there is such a concern about our presence on campus
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<p>hubbelgardner: Most colleges and universities do strive for diversity, moving away from our not so distant past, where only the wealthy white upper-class Christians (and, in many cases, only males) could attend university. If you don't see this as a worthwhile concern that stretches beyond university campuses-- well, then, uh, okay.</p>
<p>"If you don't see this as a worthwhile concern that stretches beyond university campuses-- well, then, uh, okay."</p>
<p>it's a worthwhile concern, just not an over-riding concern; there are other, equally or more important, concerns for many. One should go to a place that meets YOUR most important concerns. That is why there is a Smith or Bryn Mawr for some, a VMI or military academy for others. If UNC is nirvana for you, then I am happy you found yours. Unfortunately for many, 'diversity' is code language for 'anti-white male', "anti-WASP" etc.. As if that were an evil thing-in and of itself. </p>
<p>Judging most conservative to most liberal is awfully hard to do, but I would agree with anxiousmom that Rice is more like Duke than Davidson. </p>
<p>There was a thread done not too long ago about student political identification on Facebook for varoius schools. My personal view is something like this:</p>
<p>More conservative
W&L, Wake Forest, Davidson</p>
<p>More middle of the road
Vanderbilt, Georgetown, W&M</p>
<p>hubbelgardner: I understand how the word "diversity" has become somewhat diluted, and the insistence on it (even creating laws to ensure it) might end up just turning off people (like you) who ultimately consider it "code language for anti white males and WASPS." And that's a shame.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, wide-ranging diversity (including economic, religious, political, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc) -- really does enrich us all. Diversity on a college campus also, quite simply, reflects our (ever-evolving) world. For some people, a college campus is the first place they've ever been where they are exposed to people unlike themselves, or who have backgrounds, ideas, and experiences, totally unlike what they've ever known. And, as far as I'm concerned, that can only be a good thing.</p>
<p>IMO, U Virginia's stripes have changed/are changing. As noted above, it’s very hard to get a read on the whole left/right vibe of an entire college, but 20-30 years ago, U Virginia was undeniably a much more conservative (and smaller) college. Over that time, with the expansion of the federal government and the creation of many technology companies (mostly to service the Pentagon), northern Virginia has had an enormous period of growth. That growth translates into influence on the state and on the school, both in terms of population, wealth, and political ideology. Partly as a result of this, I think most would agree that U Virginia has evolved to be a much bigger college in a growing state with an increasingly greater diversity of political opinions. I doubt you could call it as liberal as U North Carolina (or Emory or Duke or Rice), but it is most definitely not W&L, Wake or Davidson. I’m not entirely sure how it stacks up vis-</p>
<p>The trouble with UVa is that because it is so hard to get into from out of state it is sometimes not considered a great admission value for out of staters. That is, it is a fine school, but if you can get in to UVa you can can usually get into other really good schools and as an out of stater you are paying a lot of money, close to what you would pay anywhere else. So, if you are from Michigan or California, for example, you have your own state school of pretty much equal quality and a far better financial deal. And if money is not an issue, you have other choices as well, of similar size and style to UVa, both in the South and elsewhere. All that said, Charlottesville is a delightful place, the Rotunda and Lawn are indeed beautiful, the evocation of the Mr. Jefferson tradition is charming unless/until you get tired of it, and UVa is a fun school to attend both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. I think in terms of liberal and conservative UVa is large enough to have multiple political identities and you can find people to both agree with and disagree with there.</p>
<p>HSC absolutely tops the list of most conservative schools in the South.W&L is a close second.
All the accolades accorded Davidson are right on.Any student who is very serious about academics and the honor code would fit in.</p>
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All the accolades accorded Davidson are right on. Any student who is very serious about academics and the honor code would fit in.
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<p>Well, that's true, but this would also have to be a student who is happily content with a relatively conservative small liberal arts college, located in a very small town. This would not be a perfect fit for those students who are looking for much more diversity on a much larger campus-- maybe located in a bigger town (even a city), and perhaps one that allowed both fraternities AND sororities!)-- along with a slew of other personal preferences. There are plenty of schools out there across the country that are equally "very serious about academics," with similarly strong and well-respected honor codes in place.</p>
<p>janie - I think it's clear you don't like Davidson, and as someone who has looked into schools with honor codes, I beg to differ.</p>
<p>Haverford, Davidson, Vandy, Wash&Lee, UVa, and a couple others are the main schools that have important codes without them being very restrictive(BYU, Army, Navy, etc.).</p>
<p>And the mocking of the eating clubs at Davidson seems very shallow, what of the schools without any greek life, what of Princeton - the original Eating Club school. Trying to avoid the negaitives associated with greek life, while maintaining the community feel, is not a negative.</p>
<p>I appreciate that you have been adding a more local opinion, however your distaste for the school seems to spoil this input.</p>
<p>DSC: I'm so sorry; I didn't realize this thread was limited to saying only good things about Davidson. Silly me. I read the thread title, "Is Davidson conservative?" and have reacted accordingly.</p>
<p>I don't know where you picked up that I was "mocking of the eating clubs." On the contrary, I can imagine that co-ed eating clubs are preferable to either fraternities or sororities. I was pointing out that while fraternities are allowed on Davidson's campus, sororities are not. This just seems somewhat old-fashioned and strikes me as being just, oh, I don't know-- a wee bit sexist, perhaps? I'm not sure why fraternities at Davidson can avoid all the "negatives of Greek life," but someone there doesn't believe sororities would be able to avoid those same negatives. Again, that seems like a conservative and somewhat sexist viewpoint to me. Perhaps you can tell me what the reasoning behind that is? I would be interested to know.</p>
<p>My point is, why not simply have co-ed eating clubs, and do away with the fraternities as well? Alternatively, fraternities, sororities, and eating clubs could be allowed, and students could choose to make their own decisions about joining. (See link posted earlier with the recently retired President's 1998 comments on his reasoning behind banning sororities.) </p>
<p>Again, I think Davidson's academics are stellar, and their honor code is well-known and well-respected. It is also safe to say (without putting down Davidson) that many colleges and universities have equally stellar academics and honor codes. I apologize if that seems too negative for you, but like it or not, it's a fact. In the South, in particular, UVA, UNC-CH, Duke, and Wake Forest all have excellent academics, with UVA, Wake Forest, and UNC-CH, in particular, maintaining very old, well-respected, and well-known honor codes.</p>
<p>My daughter considered Davidson but the lack of NPC GLOs was enough to omit it from her college list. She is at W&L where the honor code permeates throughout Generals' daily lives and her particular major is highly recognized(as it is at D.)</p>
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<p>At the majority of schools that have Greek life, the all-sorority average is higher than the all-women's average. Women's GLOs are international organizations that provide networking opportunities far beyond an active's 4 years in undergraduate school. I don't think that adding women's Greek-letter organizations would lower the quality of the female students as implied in that 1998 letter.</p>
<p>Tigers Rule, if you are actually looking for a top conservative school...paradoxically they aren't in the South. they are Notre Dame and Pepperdine. You can count U Chicago if you only look at their economic school which was once dominated by Milton Friedman.</p>