<p>And this…
[Unity</a> - Rose-Hulman](<a href=“404 | Rose-Hulman”>404 | Rose-Hulman)</p>
<p>"I graduated from Rose last year and am fairly liberal … I suppose, but also happen to be gay. I didn’t come out until Junior year, but faced really no problems before or after that on either political or sexuality grounds (even within sports, as well as, if not especially within, my fraternity). I am a big, fairly masculine guy … which could have been a part of that acceptance … but the few other gays I knew (as well as my dozens of very liberal friends and acquaintances) seemed to have no particular problems as far as friends or general acceptance goes.</p>
<p>My partner, also from Rose, and I both felt our years there to be a great experience. I sort of doubt we will ever find better people or friends.</p>
<p>PS: I WOULD call Rose “fairly conservative,” but I would also have to agree with Jared in that the campus as a whole seemed almost oddly apolitical … and I think most students recognized this (often preceding to blame the workload). If you are not doing homework or studying, I think people just want to hang out, relax, and have a good time. "</p>
<p>That was a post from a Rose student on this site.</p>
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<p>How was it that she not understand those things about USC beforehand? I’m not being critical by asking that question, but you are citing things as issues that should have been readily apparent even before sending in an application. I think that is distinctly different from the assumptions being made about how students will interact directly on the basis of having divergent moral, social and political views. For example, I don’t think one would get much of an argument by asserting that a large percentage of students at Clemson enjoy attending football games - that’s very clearly demonstrated in the fabric of their sense of school spirit. However that’s extremely different from asserting, without even a bit of reticence, that Clemson students, by definition, will make life miserable for a liberal solely on the basis that the school is predominantly southern. There is a difference between having a rational preference against schools with an active Greek community versus being fearful of people based on anecdotes and negative stereotypes about where they come from.</p>
<p>There ARE differences between the North and South. The experience of going to school in Boston will differ from that of going to school in Clemson or Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>True…in the south, the students and adults will be much more friendlier. :)</p>
<p>As for religion and politics on most campuses…most kids don’t care what religion or stripe of politics you are. Virtually all schools (except bible schools) are going to be a bit left-leaning.</p>
<p>^ Hmmm…not in Texas. Texas A&M is about as fiery conservative as it gets, and Texas Tech, and Wichita State and Sam Houston State and TCU and SMU (OK SMU has it’s fair share of liberals). But honestly, outside of University of North Texas, UT Austin and Rice (which probably look conservative to Yankees), I can vouch that most of our colleges are pretty right-leaning. But I do agree that many students are pretty apathetic politically.</p>
<p>Yes…many “middle of the road” schools are going to seem more conservative to Yankees, but that’s just because their schools are so tilted left, that a “middle of the road” school is going to seem conservative. </p>
<p>I know that Bama was Obama-land during the last Presidential election, I don’t know what Texas schools were like.</p>
<p>I keep reading here how polite Southerners are. Yes, I heard that too. However, being polite on the surface to strangers and being inclusive and tolerant of others with a different value system, religion, and political views are entirely different things.</p>
<p>Japanese are world’s most painfully polite people. Yet, among the developed countries, Japan is probably the most xenophobic. </p>
<p>I am not saying Southerners are awful biased people. I am saying, though, if folks want to show that they are unbiased and open minded, they should come up with a different example than “politeness”. </p>
<p>Likewise, one or two examples contrary to the prevailing views/examples do not prove that that prevailing views are wrong. So, a statement like “My XXX is from the deep South, but s/he is YYY” is no way sufficient to negate the prevailing views. The “average” tendencies, attributes, and characteristics do matter because they set the norm and they define the over all atmosphere that affects everything else in the entire “ecosystem”.</p>
<p>True story: a white kid that I know from our diverse, urban, northeastern public high school just transferred from University of South Carolina. While there, he decided to check out the fraternity rush scene, so he went to some of the parties with an African American friend. No one would talk to them. He knew one of the fraternity guys from a class and asked him why no one would talk to them. The fraternity member said that his fraternity brothers really didn’t mind African Americans. But if they let them into the fraternity, this guy said, none of the sorority girls would come to their parties because their parents wouldn’t approve of them attending parties with African Americans.
If this is what you call “polite”, I am going to have to rethink my use of the word!
Yes, an extremely strong student might be able to fight that culture and go there to bring about change. But most students would not have the inclination or capability of doing that.
I am NOT saying that every school in the south is like that. I am not saying that one should judge a whole school or all of its students based on an anecdote. But, I think that this just illustrates how legitimate this question is and I again thank the OP for asking it.</p>
<p>Had a run in with a “polite” father from SC now here a year or so in WI (talked to son then him from my front yard) who said he “was respectfully asking me to not talk to” his son- said son is 17, homeschooled “senior” already brainwashed by ultra Christian family. That “respectfully” was said in the tone of a command- as if adding that word really meant any respect. Just because the word respect in some form is used doesn’t make the person polite. I don’t think he is used to being challenged in his authority, especially by a woman. That man has control problems, unlike another “Christian” family close by who sends their kids to public schools and I have good conversations with- that mother surprised me the other day by saying that her H was the head of the household, ie he was the boss. We spend time discussing gardening for the most part and agree to disagree on religion. This family feels no threats to their beliefs from the public schools or anything I could say. I sure hope this SC man is atypical for a Southerner, even for “Christians”. I used quote marks because Catholics and others are also Christians but not the fundamentalists who sometimes tend to believe they are the only ones. </p>
<p>I know a family from TN and know the mother finds the Catholic base of this area different from her Bible Belt one. The students one runs into at a public college will reflect the state’s demographics. You can be shocked by things you never considered- such as the man being the “head of the household” instead of there being an equal partnership of your parents.</p>
<p>The fact that you can even ask the question “I sure hope this SC man is atypical for a Southerner” is bizarre for me. The fact that this guy is so far out of the norm for anywhere should never even have made this thought possible. I’ve met that same guy from NJ, Montana, Ohio, Mississippi, and Connecticut and it never once even occurred to me he might be representative on anything other than a lunatic fringe element.</p>
<p>I presume you knew all of those people were conservative Christians- that context matters. Here’s a question for posters- is the “man the head of the household” concept common in your area? Perhaps it is in some areas dominated by some religions.</p>
<p>I keep reading here how polite Southerners are. Yes, I heard that too. However, being polite on the surface to strangers and being inclusive and tolerant of others with a different value system, religion, and political views are entirely different things.</p>
<p>Southerners aren’t just polite, they are friendly and caring and REAL. There’s a huge difference.</p>
<p>being inclusive and tolerant of others with a different value system, religion, and political views are entirely different things.</p>
<p>If that is supposed to be some slap against southerners, you need to think again. </p>
<p>Do you realize that the left can be incredibly intolerant of other beliefs, views, etc. </p>
<p>And…again…those who may hold more rigid views in the south are not running the schools nor are the students attending the universities. Those who hold such beliefs are generally those who live in the more rural parts and are not college educated.</p>
<p>BTW…my boss when I lived in Calif believed that he was the “head of the house” …so does that mean that’s what Californians think? heck no. Who cares that we can isolate examples of ridiculous or extreme or out-dated beliefs. OMG Do you realize how you’re stereotyping?</p>
<p>I am a Calif native…spent my first 40 year there. I now split my time between Calif and Alabama. The posts here against the south are so full of ignorance…which is ironic since those posts are implying the ignorance of the south. LOL</p>
<p>And it can go the other way too. I live in TN (now) and have white friends who adopted an African American child with Downs Syndrome. They had to take him up to Philly earlier this month for medical consultation. I talked with the dad earlier this week & he was stunned that they had multiple instances of people flat out staring at them and doing obvious double takes. He is a Southerner and assumed that people in the NE wouldn’t even bat an eyelash, since they are more liberal and open minded, etc. You know, all the stuff that Southerners are assumed not to be.</p>
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<p>I have no opinion about north and south Debrockman. My point was that for some kids I know, any school where the majority don’t know about or care about politics, and who are more concerned with grades, dates, and parties, would consider such a school anti-intellectual. I did not say that was a southern thing or a conservative thing.</p>
<p>And I think where we agree is that for some kids, the apolitical environment is either a good or a bad thing for them in terms of fit.</p>
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<p>Are they caring and friendly toward gays, atheist, minorities, and such that are NOT part of their “in group”???</p>
<p>Look, I am under no illusion that Northerners are such upstanding citizens with open minds and without any bias. The point I am making is, the frequency of bias incidents is much, much greater in the South than in the North. That’s just a fact. For instance, remember this official in a deep South state (which one, I forget) who refused to marry interracial couples? Something like this would be so unthinkable where I live that this guy would have been kicked out of his official position long, long ago, while in his home state, he was able to function like that for decades without anybody raising a hell until somebody decided to make an issue out of it. Yes, bigots exist everywhere. However, it makes a huge difference what the general “well meaning, polite, and otherwise good intentioned people” are willing or not willing to tolerate. This is where average sentiment of the larger group or entire community really makes a difference, not the individual bigots. </p>
<p>We should not point a finger at any particular individual and lay a sweeping judgment on him/her based on where s/he lives. All I am saying is, if average sentiment is far more conservative and less welcoming of different “people” and different life style, then it becomes burdensome to people like OP’s son, and her concern is a very legitimate one, regardless of how polite, caring and friendly the Southerners are among themselves. </p>
<p>The example provided above, the frat brothers who may not be racist themselves but still practice the act of discrimination due to the prevailing sentiment is just such an example. </p>
<p>Other example is the Michigan ADA Andres Shirvell vs. openly gay student assembly president of U Michigan (Chris Armstrong). In this incident, what is important is not whether such a nut like Shirvell lives in a “blue state”. The important thing to watch is the reaction of the community. U Michigan as a community came out in support of Armstrong. </p>
<p>Of course, there are a lot of “evils” of Northerners. In general, they are stressgenic, meaning, their rude, sometime obnoxious behavior can cause headache for everybody. All these type A personality types are major pain in the neck. That said, I am sure there are lot of mellow folks too. It’s just that on the average, NE folks are just not as polite and friendly. </p>
<p>Either way, it is intellectually dishonest to deny the genuine regional difference by coming up with an exceptional cases and behavioral traits of the folks within their group.</p>
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<p>And how, pray tell, have you determined the “average” tendencies and characteristics of all of these individuals? </p>
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<p>I had the very same reaction. </p>
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<p>You think that’s a concept invented by southerners? That’s funny.</p>
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<p>What kind of incidents? If you are talking about the issue of intolerence in this present day and age, I would assert based on personal experience that your comment is completely false. </p>
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<p>I agree, but this comment is contrary to your other remarks. You don’t seem to realize what you are actually saying.</p>
<p>I know nothing about this whole North-South issue but do you think a South Asian, non-Christian kid would be unhappy in a Southern/mid-western/rural school?</p>
<p>Midwest rural and Southern rural are very different, IMO.</p>