Can anyone speak to the progressive vibe on the campuses listed above? We are getting a more conservative feel from some campuses/social media feeds/admission materials. Our daughter strongly prefers a more progressive administration and (general) student body. We recognize that there is great diversity of thought in all these environments but wanted to hear from others about general impressions.
Let me share our experiences and perceptions as we know Denison, Kenyon and Wooster pretty well, as my kid went through athletic recruiting at all 3, and we know kids at Depauw and Rhodes, plus my kid was recruited at Beloit but did not make it to campus.
We live in Indiana where Depauw has the reputation for being more mainstream and less left/liberal than many LACs. Depauw has high participation in greek life, but there does seem room for everyone, as we know some folks who are as antithetical to the “sorority” stereotype as you can get, and they found their greek life “home” and are very happy. Our friends at Rhodes seemed to have a similar experience, in that it leans less left/liberal than the typical LAC and has high greek life participation, though our non-greek life participant friends were very happy and did not feel marginalized. Wooster is probably a little higher on the “quirk” factor than either Depauw or Rhodes, and also has greek life, though it is not affiliated with national organizations, as best I recall, which was described as making it “non-traditional” and more open. Nice kids, didn’t seem a particularly activist community, but very nice, earnest. I’m interested in seeing the impact of Wooster’s new President, as she seems like a great hire.
Kenyon is an interesting combination – liberal student body, about 25% greek life participation for males and higher for females, and a slice of kids who are very “jocky.” The kids seem earnest in their academics and in their activism. Given its smaller size and the close physical community, that could feel exhilarating to some and claustrophobic to others. This year, there was some controversy about an artist-in-residence’s play that was criticized by students for its stereotypical characterization of one role, and the play was pulled from production. From what we heard, there were a lot of animated conversations about race, ethnicity, and privilege.
Denison campus culture has changed substantially, and is now close to 20% first gen and about the same percentage Pell grant eligible, plus attracts a lot of middle class and upper middle class families through good merit aid. President Weinberg is a big advocate of “living with difference” and encouraging the development of adults who engage in civil, civic discourse. This spring was there were back-to-back speakers on campus, one the plaintiff in the same-sex marriage equality case and the other a conservative speaker (I can’t remember who), and there were not attempts to shut down the talks or drown them out with protests. From what we hear, student population leans liberal, though there are conservatives on campus. Greek life is about the same rate as at Kenyon, about 25% male and higher for females, and is non-residential at both Denison and Kenyon.
Beloit is probably the one which is most reliably left/liberal, though I’m not familiar with the administration at all.