Hey Everyone!
I don’t want to be misunderstood, I am a liberal person. I am just wondering if there are constantly protests on campus and if you say one thing that is slightly not politically correct you are scrutinized. Do students make a big issue over every controversial issue? Are their any conservatives on campus and are their opinions heard as well?
Thanks
i’ve seen this. That’s what scares me haha @iwannabe_Brown
@iwannabe_Brown
Utterly disturbing.
However, @367367, there will always be people who are open to new viewpoints. The entire purpose of a college education is to learn about new viewpoints, and see the positives and negatives of them. Liberals don’t have all the answers and Conservatives don’t have all the answers, which is why most Americans are moderate. If you believe in something, say it. Let the closed-minded liberal hippies silence you. Your friends you make at Brown, whether or not they agree with you, will support you. That is what I experienced during A Day on College Hill.
@iwannabe_Brown That kind of behavior genuinely scares me. These people are neither peaceful nor tolerant.
There are not constantly protests on campus. That I can assure you.
There are a handful of students who make a big deal out of everything. But most students do their work and hang out with friends and don’t get strident over every perceived issue.
There are conservatives on campus. Not many. There is a Brown Republican club. I don’t think they are very vocal.
I don’t think Brown is very different from many other liberal college campuses.
Note, I don’t go to Brown.
But anywhere you go there will be small groups of very vocal and obnoxious people from both ends of the political spectrum.
Though easy, it is not really reasonable to be persuaded or disillusioned by what you see in a short video. I know tons of people at Brown, and I’ve done a fair amount of research on the university – but that clip posted above is the first time I’ve heard or seen anything about that kind of behaviour. So (and again, I don’t go to Brown) it’s probably a non-issue.
Also note that in that first clip, with the guy loudly talking over the guy who was trying to mediate/organise the conversation (“heterosexual white men”)… That’s just rude. And unproductive. Being rude transcends liberal/conservative labels, so you probably shouldn’t conflate the rude behaviour displayed there with liberal thought and practice (I don’t mean that offensively btw).
Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but the ray kelly incident and the day of reclamation were certainly not “non-issues.” Non-issues do not get days, if not weeks of coverage in the BDH and emails from the university President. I agree with fireandrain that these represent a small, vocal minority of students - but often it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
@367367 Brown sure is the most liberal of the ivies, which says a lot since the ivies are generally pretty liberal to begin with. A close second would be Columbia and then maybe Yale. Harvard,Princeton, Penn, Cornell are a bit less liberal , based on my experience and understanding and probably Dartmouth even less so (but still liberal-leaning by any standards).
However this doesn’t mean that it is impossible for people with different viewpoints to have a good experience at Brown.
Bear in mind you don’t have to be involved either for or against a protest if it adversely affects you - I think we are talking about a vocal minority. Most are too busy studying, having fun or both.
To put it simply:
Definitely not, definitely not, definitely not, and yes!
Like @penn95 says, it’s really all relative when we say that a given college is “liberal”–most institutions of higher learning tend to lean to the left.
Brown is a very diverse place, and definitely one political opinion/social ideology/leaning does NOT dominate campus. You’ll find people from all over many types of spectra here. Protests and demonstrations happen on campus for sure, but not as often as media would lead you to believe. And like @TerpDad888 mentioned, it tends to be a vocal minority–there are plenty of other things people occupy themselves with.
Broadly, Brown students care about the world around them and care about it being a better place. If this sounds like you, you’ll have no trouble fitting in at Brown.
Thank you everyone for your responses. If anyone else has a take on this subject I would love to hear!
I have 1 child currently at Brown, and 1 recent graduate. They would both describe themselves as moderate, have never participated in a protest, and are not particularly political. Both attended prep schools that were not particularly liberal. Both have had exceptional experiences at Brown in terms of academic and personal growth, and lifelong friendships made. They both felt very accepted, have been very involved in the student body in ways different from each other, but neither way political, and although some of their friends may have joined in protests, etc., the main attitude has been to respect each other enough to listen to different opinions, keep one’s mind open to learning how others think, what others believe, etc. Neither one of these two would have thrived if the campus atmosphere was so extremely liberal there wasn’t room for diversity nor free thought.
In reference to which vies are most liberal, in my opinion, my alma mater Yale, wins that award hands down.