<p>This may sound ridiculous, but I'm being totally serious... How liberal is Stanford?
I ask because I come from a conservative family and anytime I say I'm considering Stanford I get, "Why would you want to go there? California is the liberal stink-pit of the world." And I'm not really sure how seriously that should be a concern. Does anyone have any personal experience in this area?</p>
<p>Stanford is definitely very liberal. It’s hard for me to separate out the regional influences, since most college campuses across the country tend to lean liberal - so I can’t say whether Stanford is liberal because it’s in California or just because it’s a college. Anyway, I think you’ll find that people here, even liberals, have fairly informed political views and are mostly open-minded. We don’t refer to other parts of the country as “conservative stink-pits”. There’s a Stanford Conservative Society and they publish a conservative newspaper called the Stanford Review. Conservatives are the minority but they definitely exist. </p>
<p>On a side note, I’m not sure the rest of the country understands California’s political diversity. We’re a very large state with a huge spectrum of political views. We did vote for Obama in 2008, but we also have a conservative governor(-ator) and passed Prop 8 to ban gay marriage via statewide referendum. 7 million Californians (52% of the vote) voted in favor of Prop 8.</p>
<p>The gay marriage didn’t pass because there is a huge American-Mexican (conservative Catholic) voting base in California along with other conservative groups. The American-Mexicans vote Democrat on many issues, except where it knocks heads with the Church. </p>
<p>That said, Stanford is composed of a diverse group of students (I believe less than one third are from California) from around the world. They are known for being much more conservative of a group compared to their counterparts at UC Berkely or UCLA. Compared to a religious-affiliated school, they do get labeled as ‘liberal.’</p>
<p>Also, the more conservative Hoover Institution is at Stanford. Read about it here if you don’t already know about it:</p>
<p>[Hoover</a> Institution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Institution]Hoover”>Hoover Institution - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I guess my question is based in more of the daily life area. I can understand how an institution can be conservative or liberal, depending on professors, faculty, publications, etc. But I don’t think that would have too much of an affect on my life as a student.</p>
<p>But how does this really play out in a persons daily life? Is it a case where anyone with conservative views are seen as radicals and shunned? Or religion is seen as something that shouldn’t exist and needs to silenced? And anyone with a “traditional” view is just a bigot and unwilling to move forward?</p>
<p>And I’m not accusing anyone, I just don’t know. Cause this is pretty much what I’ve been told my whole life, but I find it hard to believe. So I’m curious as to the reality</p>
<p>if you’re that conservative as to label something as a “stink pit” of liberalism…I wouldn’t consider any T20 colleges, as they are all leaning left</p>
<p>Well, firstly, Stanford is one of the most gay-friendly campuses in the country, located extremely close to the most gay-friendly city in the U.S. I haven’t been to Stanford yet, but I imagine there’s some homophobia-phobia. Contrary to popular belief, I think we liberals are pretty agreeable people. I have nothing against you unless you start railing at me because I am pro-choice and bisexual. I can’t speak for all “flaming liberals” like me, but I’d happily be your best friend as long as we keep politics out of it. </p>
<p>However, ponder has a good point. I don’t think labels like “stink pit” and “traditional” are going to help much. On the other hand, you say you’ve been told that your whole life, but you’re skeptical. That’s something I respect. A major problem some liberals have with the “traditional type” conservatives and the religious is that they take what they are told their whole life and fail to question it. If you really are questioning it, you’re making a step that any decent liberal would admire you for.</p>
<p>I’ll say most people here are liberal. The LBGBT community is very open and friendly and most people here support gay rights and lean towards the left. However, I also have numerous friends who are extremely vocal about their support for conservative issues and who write for the conservative publications on campus --the pro-life movement here seems to be particularly strong. I will say though, that most students on campus will NOT tolerate bigotry or personal attacks against people because of their race, gender, political views, or sexual orientation, especially blatant labeling.
The religious community here is also pretty large from what I’ve seen. Def. no “shunning” or anything like that, people will respect your views as long as you respect others. Though I will say, most people here, even the “traditionally” religious ones, are more left leaning than those you are probably accustomed to.</p>
<p>How are people in terms of fiscal politics? I’m assuming more liberal than not?</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with being liberal. We should look for open minded people. Bad colleges are not interested in diversity thought.</p>
<p>Good colleges encourage students to “think” and back-up their opinions.</p>
<p>I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being liberal. It’s my uncles and such that have the huge issue and are giving me a hard time for even considering going there. I’m just trying to get some proof that they’re wrong. </p>
<p>I have no problem with gay people or anything of that sort and I don’t that that’s in any way the defining trait of being liberal. But I’m worried about being in an environment where I can’t say, “I disagree with the way money is being spent in our government right now,” or “My Catholic beliefs play a large role in my life,” or “I think that people who work hard and end up successful shouldn’t be demonized and punished.”</p>
<p>the stanford community is very liberal
with that said, it is not only tolerant or accepting, it is encouraging of opposing opinions. that is a fundamental part of the stanford community-the fact that people with differing opinions can co-exist and thrive together.</p>
<p>but given your attitude, i don’t think you would quite fit in at stanford. if you characterize liberals that way as is evident from your posts, you should stick to a conservative university and not interact with people who differ from you for the rest of your life…</p>
<p>vraz,</p>
<p>I’d be interested in what your uncles would consider to be an acceptable school? If it is ‘X’ Bible College, then you are listening to the wrong people.</p>
<p>I am someone who considers myself conservative who is currently at Stanford. I am Catholic, have said that I disagree with some of what Obama is doing, and I think that most Stanford students at some level agree that “people who work hard and end up successful shouldn’t be demonized and punished”. I really don’t feel alone here, or like I can’t express my views.</p>
<p>Important thing though is to be open minded. If you are open minded and do not belittle people’s beliefs you will be fine. Issues arise on either side when someone behaves in a bigoted manner. Stanford students on a whole won’t tolerate that, even if the view being espoused is liberal.</p>
<p>We are pretty chill on a whole as far as protests go. The only protest that has happened while I was here was the one against the Westboro baptist church, something that I think every Stanford student despises. It was nothing compared to some of the other schools I visited that had people with megaphones talking about women getting rapped, the atrocities of the Chinese government in Tibet, and how the world is going to die within the next 5 years if we did not do something drastic about global warming. (I am not making this stuff up, I heard these three things at three different colleges, and these colleges were not in CA, they were in the midwest).</p>
<p>I bring up these protests because I am not against what they stand for, but they are just plain obnoxious and pointless. The Tibet person was having people sign a petition to free the Tibetan people, like the chinese government ever cared about international PR. The women talking about rape weren’t calling people to action, they were just citing statistics and being graphic. As for the Global warming thing, I am all for renewable energy, just don’t use made up statistics as a scare tactic to get me to do something, the world will probably be here 5 years from now (assuming 2012 goes well :)). I have not seen any obnoxious protests like this while I have been here.</p>
<p>As for persuading your family, tell them Condi is on the Faculty.</p>
<p>And NJDS, I think he has mainly been saying what his family has told him, and that he questions it. I don’t see him characterizing liberals in any negative way.</p>
<p>RSBuletz,</p>
<p>My uncles are very staunch supports of UT-Austin, which is in many ways considered a “liberal” university and in no way a “Bible College”. They also happen to be very “against” Texas A&M which is considered one of the most conservative colleges in Texas.</p>
<p>NJDS
From what I can tell I’ve never said anything negative about liberals. And if that’s the impression you get then I’m sorry. I didn’t know that it’s illegal to ask for help to disprove a misconception that has been fed to me by family. Yes I do consider myself conservative and most of my family is too. But that in no way means that I don’t have liberal friends or that I’m unwilling to live in a new environment. I just don’t want to live in a new environment that is openly hostile.</p>
<p>My D will be a frosh in the fall, and she is definitely very conservative in her social and political views. She is also a Christian. She’s heard a few of the same sort of comments as you–the typical stuff folks in the NE say to be funny (they’re not) about CA being so far out and liberal that it will eventually break off from the rest of the continental USA, ha ha. But she also heard similar comments about attending the “liberal” Ivies. Harvard was her other top choice, and we thought it was interesting that compared to Harvard, Stanford has a bizillion religious groups on campus. To us that suggested that the students are open-minded and tolerant of religion and differing views. When she visited Stanford, what impressed her was that the school seems to have a more supportive and welcoming atmosphere than she felt at the Ivies. </p>
<p>We have relatives in TX, and it seems that there it is not as common for kids to leave the state for college as it is in other states.</p>
<p>As a liberal and a life-long Bay Area resident, I’d say that you might be looked down on for some of your beliefs and opinions, but no one is going to be openly hostile unless you try to force them on others. So, if you just admit to being religious and say that the government should spend less money, you’d be met with a healthy debate, at the very worst. But if you’re arguing that we are a fundamentally Christian nation or that homosexuality can/should be cured, you won’t make many friends. :P</p>
<p>It’s important to note, though, that some people will assume you have those other extreme opinions if you profess your general Catholicism/conservatism. Unfortunately, you may find yourself dispelling those assumptions somewhat often, but that will usually be the end of it.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with above poster in that you will be ‘looked down’ on your beliefs, especially supporting the government to control spending. At this point in time it seems that most Americans want the government to control spending and get the ‘budget’ (if that’s what you call spending $1.60 for every $1 that comes in) under control. </p>
<p>If you are a bigot, racist, fanatic, or extremist in any sense, you may find your number of friends limited. However, being Christian is not any of those things. </p>
<p>Many people are proud of their religious beliefs. So whether you attend a public or religious private or non-religious private school, you WILL find Christians. They are everywhere. That said, if you are considered an ‘extremist’ within the Christian-based sphere, for example, preaching to people that they will go to H@ll if they don’t repent, then you will probably have a much smaller group of friends. But you already knew that. On the other hand if you consider yourself a Christian who believes in reincarnation (For example, when Jesus said, ‘Ye must be born again,’ He actually meant literally, You must be born again), then you may find yourself in debate with Christians and non-Christians alike, but people will most likely not be hostile to you nor shun you as a person. </p>
<p>College is a time to get out of your comfort zone and meet the WORLD, literally. Don’t press your opinions and religious beliefs on others, but share what you think and be open minded enough to listen to what others think. Also be a morally good person, and people will generally like you no matter how different you are. And no matter how diverse you find the campus, nothing will prepare for the experience of actually moving outside of the USA and immersing yourself and living in a foreign culture.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There is a strong Republican presence on campus. They;re quite strong I think partially because they are the minority. But they get stuff in the Daily all the time, and there are anti-abortion events and such, so you can definitely find like-minded people even though I agree that it is a highly liberal environment. You can get looked down on for being conservative - I have to admit I was guilty of this too my freshman year as well, sadly - especially in some highly liberal environments (SLE, Columbae, Synergy, etc.), but most people are just tolerant. And if you can hold your own, people will usually respect you for it. </p></li>
<li><p>I second the college is for exploring sentiment. I came from a very fundamental Christian background going into school and while I considered myself liberal, I realized that I was actually quite moderate once I got to Stanford…I;ve really enjoyed the experience of trying new things and discovering new perspectives that have, in turn, helped me find out who I am and what I enjoy. Stanford is a great, supportive, safe environment to do this, regardless of your political leanings. Note that I have become more liberal over the course of my four years here though! And was never really that conservative…</p></li>
</ol>