William & Mary may suit your needs, though I agree with previous posters that protests and other elements of expressing your views happen pretty much everywhere.
Poster who had Cornell on the list … no. Not conservative. Perhaps a mix of Democrats and traditional (read: Eisenhower) Republicans. But not conservative.
@gearmom I would say I am socially conservative overall. I am for the most part pro-life for example. Users like @NewByzantine understand where my fears are coming from. I have been at a very liberal high school and all of the conservatives were forced into silence.
Keep in mind that colleges often reflect the politics of the surrounding area. I go to an overtly Catholic college, but because of where it’s located (blue state, major city, diverse population) it skews much more liberal than a Catholic college might otherwise. You may want to look at more red or purple geographic areas for colleges that are more politically “you”.
This is also a great question to ask on a college tour. Asking in a large group will probably get you a “We welcome all!” response, but if you ask the guide privately, they will probably be happy to tell you if the campus skews one way or the other.
“Forced into silence” about what? It is not like high school students talk about abortion all the time (well, maybe it is a more common topic at low performing high schools with lots of unintended teen pregnancies, but probably still not a daily subject of chatter, and probably less political and more gossipy relating to the persons involved).
@ucbalumnus forced into silence because if they “came out” as conservative, they would lose their friends like I did. I was socially excluded for over a year because the liberals were so intolerant and bullied me. I was branded a racist and a sexist. It wasn’t just the students, there were teachers too. Some teachers were awful. A few have told me in secret recently that they agree with me and that they are conservative, but keep quiet because they saw what happened. So I don’t think you do know I go to a top private school in my state and it is very common. This is why I created this thread to find a place that this does not happen again.
@seniorinmo , I totally understand where you come from. We are in a deep blue city on the left coast, and my son has to hide his conservative view to have any social life. Last year, after the election, many teachers went “sick” and couldn’t even come to school. Most students went out on the field and cried together. Good thing was, my son found a few students with a smile on their face and realized there were a few closet conservatives like him. Later they created a secret group that could discuss conservative ideas.
For those lefties who have surrounded themselves with like-minded people and watch CNN MSNBC all day long, anything remotely conservative is extreme. On one of my other thread, a poster said Obama is the model of elegance and centrist. I’m sorry, if a communist is centrist to you, then everyone else is extreme right.
When we toured Columbia University, the tour guide said explicitly, " this is an extremely liberal college. If you are a conservative, you are not welcome here." BTW, he’s a political science major, already graduated, but still doesn’t have a job yet.
When we toured Claremont McKenna, the tour guide didn’t want to offend the mostly California students and just hinted that " our political views are a little different from most people’s around here."
So, @seniorinmo, take the conservative friendly colleges mentioned in this thread as a starting point, take tours and compare to a few liberal colleges, you’ll see the difference. There are colleges and students like you out there. Be strong and good luck!
The issue is that “conservative” has suffered a semantic expansion in the past couple years. What used to be fringe can be incorporated by some into “conservative discourse” in order to attempt to legitimize it - such as calling Ben Shapiro, who a few years ago was regarded by conservatives as a fringe extremist, “mainstream”.
Claiming to be a conservative can also be conflated with advocating fringe ideas under the guise of “conservatism”. It’s much harder to separate the two in high school, when students are just beginning to test political beliefs for the first time. In college, students tend to become politically aware if not active and arguing about political ideas is normal (age-appropriate).
Libertarians, pro life students, fiscal conservatives, rayndians will have no problems on almost all campuses.
However, being part of Trump’s base or a Breitbart fan is likely to be difficult at most campuses, except perhaps TAMU, Kansas state, Oklahoma State, Wichita State, UWyoming, and a handful others.
Hillsdale and Grove City are actually academically demanding, conservative Christian colleges that do not invite left leaning speakers. They’re excellent choices, along with Hope and Pepperdine, if you wish for a conservative Christian college that doesn’t recruit exclusively among evangelicals.
Moderate/centrist colleges, or colleges that include a wide range of viewpoints and appropriate for someone with a 29-30, would include Rhodes, Centre, Holy Cross, St Olaf, Luther, Butler, Creighton, Drake, Denison, Dickinson, Muhlenberg. Most public flagships will also include lots of viewpoints.
A new trend has steadily pushed stem students away from conservatism due to some politicians’ stance on science (it’s one notable, unexpected change compared to the previous 50 years).
Even if business students tend to be politically uninvolved, millennials in general, including business majors, take social causes seriously compared to previous generations especially racial and gender equality - although their focus may be “how does it impact the brand/bottom line, what sort of business opportunities does it create”. For most of them, sustainable development and clean tech are a given. So, political movements or politicians that run against these generational core beliefs are likely to be less common regardless of major.
Should college communities be equally receptive to ALL types of speech and viewpoints? Some questions eventually become more-or-less settled. Pseudo-science deserves to be debunked and dismissed, not seriously debated over and over. It’s one thing for an otherwise liberal Catholic to advocate for church policy on abortion. It’s another thing for flat earthers and Ku Kluxers to demand equal time for crackpot ideas. Where do climate change deniers and “Intelligent Design” advocates fit? The boundaries do shift over time as knowledge accumulates and views are aired.
I agree with @MYOS1634 that the meaning of “conservative” has shifted in recent years. From my (fairly liberal) perspective, that shift (to the extent it is represented by Breitbart and the alt Right) seems to be in the crackpot direction. Meanwhile, mainstream Democrats have been dragged toward the center (or even the former Right) on some issues such as foreign policy and health care. Suppose many students and faculty on a college campus continue to believe in a steeply progressive income tax, single payer national health insurance, affirmative action, and a woman’s absolute right to choose. Such a place may indeed seem unwelcoming to an Alt Right “conservative” who believes all undocumented immigrants should be deported, human-induced climate change is a hoax, and right-to-carry reciprocity should be the law of the land. Maybe the OP doesn’t know exactly where s/he stands on some of these issues and wants total freedom (and respect) to explore them. That might not happen equally on every college campus, if only because there already is widespread consensus favoring viewpoints at odds with where the OP is moving.
Poster who had Cornell on the list … no. Not conservative. Perhaps a mix of Democrats and traditional (read: Eisenhower) Republicans. But not conservative.
@seniorinmo It really depends on what you mean by “conservative.” If you mean Marco Rubio conservative, that’s mainstream, and I don’t think most people would begrudge you that. If you mean Richard Spencer conservative, I personally understand why that would lead to losing friends. There are indeed views that are abhorrent based on the social norms of 2017.
Oh, gosh, this reminds me of my high school (I graduated two years ago). Literally every subject turned into a class about what was wrong with Trump; my cousin’s teacher called him “Hitler”. Then, there would be the never-ending jokes about what was “wrong” with white people.
I attended La Salle University last year, and there was a similar environment (although not as extreme). I go to a CC in NJ now, and people are much more tolerant of all viewpoints.
I think this thread is getting a little too political.
OP you could also included Catholic or Jesuit schools like BC, Fordham, Providence College, Holy Cross, St. Joseph’s in PA.
Overall, mainstream religious schools (both Catholic and Protestant) are likely to have a good mix of viewpoints and be “conservative-friendly”. To the list already suggested, I’d add Wofford, Samford, Butler.
Marxist students or professors hark back to 40-50 years ago. Some may remain (or try a revival) but if they exist at all, they are a minority on every campus, even Oberlin.
Belmont in Nashville…
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
“Little” would be an understatement. Please address the OP’s question without veering into debate or politics. Several posts deleted.
Perhaps Drexel, where a leftist professor resigned, saying it was due to various types of harassment and death threats?
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/28/controversial-drexel-professor-resigns
Perhaps UNC Wilmington, where the OP can take courses from Mike Adams?
http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20161202/mike-adams-department-at-uncw-releases-statement-on-column
Sorry, did not see moderator’s note.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is very tolerant of diverse political views. It reflects the state’s attitude towards politics, where the State Senate is run by Republicans, the State House is run by Democrats, and the Governor is an Independent.
@ucbalumnus,
OP is genuinly had bad experience in a liberal school. Your sarcastic comment doesn’t help.