Is Harvard conservative or liberal?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

I see that there are various articles coming out these days, claiming that Harvard is a conservative school, and that its leftist/liberal reputation is all just for show.

When I was there, I certainly thought that it was liberal. Left-wing politics predominated, secularism was certainly more prevalent than religiosity (although religiosity doesn’t equal conservatism, it’s more prevalent in “conservative” areas) and self-identified Democrats surely far outnumbered self-identified Republicans. Most people were not overtly political, though; they were focused on career-building.

From others who are students, alumni or parents of either: what do you think?

2

Liberal!

Close friends have a son attending, and their stories make it quite clear that their moderately conservative son is way to the right of most other students and pretty much all his professors. My son asked the student giving us a tour if a conservative could survive there, and the tour guide said you can’t voice any conservative opinion without facing nasty verbal attacks.

This is not unique to Harvard. Diversity of opinion is no longer sought or even welcome on many college campuses.

3

Liberal, but at the same time it’s no Wesleyan or Hampshire.

4

^^ If that were true, then these organizations would not be welcome on college campuses:

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/gop/
http://harvarddems.com
http://www.hbslgbtclub.org
http://osl.fas.harvard.edu/student-organizations
http://yalecollegerepublicans.org
http://yaledemocrats.com
http://lgbtq.yale.edu
https://apps.students.yale.edu/uor/RegisteredOrganizations

I could go on with lists from other colleges, but I think you get the point: Diversity of opinion is highly sought and welcomed on many college campuses.

5

I believe Harvard to be predominately liberal. I doubt few would challenge that. Our daughter would tell you all views are welcome but the person bringing them needs to be able to support and defend them.

6

Deleted

7

I agree. Several years ago, one of my son’s roommates was the President of Yale College Republicans, while the rest of his roommates were very liberal. The suite had many lively discussions that all enjoyed and welcomed!

8

@gibby, I could just as easily provide a list of links showing the opposite, but here is but one:

http://harvardpolitics.com/harvard/caught-red-handed-political-diversity-harvard/

9

Look at just the number of Democrats and Republicans that each school currently has in elected office. This data is old, but is the most recent I could find: http://www.usnews.com/news/slideshows/the-top-10-colleges-for-members-of-congress/2

Harvard: 15 members of Congress or Senate (13 Democrats with 2 Republicans)
Stanford: 11 members of Congress or Senate (9 Democrats with 2 Republicans)
Yale: 10 members of Congress or Senate (9 Democrats with 1 Republican)

It’s not until you get to College #6 where the Republicans start to outnumber the Democrats.

So, yes colleges like Harvard and Yale in the Northeast and Stanford and UCLA in the west are more liberal than those in the south and mid-section of the country. But, is there tolerance on Harvard or Yale’s campus for conservatives? From the experience of both my kids, the answer is yes.

Conversely, do liberal students at the University of Georgia feel outnumbered by conservatives? I would think they do, but are liberal students currently at the University of Georgia welcomed and sought after? I don’t really know enough about the school to make that judgement call, but I would hope they are!

10

I would guess that partisans of either side tolerate the other side, but don’t exactly welcome them or seek after them, but that’s just very subjective opinion.

11

Why i it always Wisse and Mansfield quoted in those articles? There are other conservative faculty, they just don’t make a point of nursing grievances.

12

@HappyAlumnus: I agree that both sides are tolerant of each other. From discussions with my kids, I think most students at Harvard and Yale are welcoming and inclusive to each other regardless of being conservative, liberal, christian, jew, muslim, buddhist, gay, straight, black, brown, yellow or white. Whether each side actually seeks the other out depends heavily on what each side is seeking. If it’s for a touch football game, lunch, study group, picnic, ski trip, beer pong etc, I don’t think it matters all that much. If it’s for a political discourse or religious service, I would think it matters a great deal.

13

@gibby, sure, that makes sense, and we’re on the same page. I had just been thinking, “do Republicans at Harvard seek more Democrats?” and was thinking that the answer is “no”; for general getting-along, outside of politics, sure, they seek each other out.

14

There is always Liberty University, so it balances things out nicely.

15

@hzhao2004 One conservative campus does not “balance out” the overwhelming majority of liberal ones. That’s ridiculous no matter your viewpoint. Secondly, this isn’t about a national balance, it’s about a balance for those attending Harvard.

16

A lot of students from my son’s prep school get admitted to Harvard.

The rich kids w trust funds and the poor outreach kids tend to be liberal.

The rich kids whose parents work for a living tend to be conservative.

17

Harvard’s partisan politics are pervasively liberal, but its culture is actually somewhat conservative.

18

^^ I agree. Yale may actually be a bit more liberal than Harvard. My son kept trying to take General Stanley McChrystal’s seminar on Leadership, but there was so much student interest, he never was able to get in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYvwxc91DGk