Hi, Lehigh is my top choice and I was just wondering if Lehigh is a liberal school (gay-friendly, free of racism etc.). I’m a very open-minded international student so I wouldn’t do that well in a conservative environment. Thanks!
In my experience, Lehigh students are moderately liberal. Generally accepting but not protesting every minor thing.
I agree with Much2learn. I’d consider it a mixed campus, but probably moderate left as a whole.
@Much2learn @obsessedwcollege @princet2021 Hi guys! Thank you for your replies - everything I heard is definitely very reassuring! :))
It depends on where you are from. I think socially liberal, fiscally moderate would be fair. It is not a “social justice warrior” school like a Wesleyan, but it’s very East Coast, so that expected mix of Wall Street NJ, NY types along with another half of the school that is from the rest of the country, including rural PA, suburban Philly, and smatterings from the rest of the country…pretty much a mix of mostly moderate to liberals and maybe 1/5 conservatives of some variety. Fyi, the movie “Spotlight” was based on Marty Baron, a Lehigh grad, if that provides any context.
Ironically, although (as the previous commenters noted) the Lehigh student body is not very political, the Lehigh administration is overwhelmingly populated by fervent social justice warriors, as is the Arts and Sciences faculty. This gives Lehigh the feel of a Soviet-style reeducation camp, where the administration (from John Simon, down to the assistant deans for residential life) is continually imposing social justice warrior programs and messaging on a relatively disinterested student body. So, for example, my Lehigh sophomore has been forced to attend programs on the evils of white privilege he had no interest in attending, and Trump supporters were intimidated by the professor and generally unwelcome in his freshman writing class during the 2016 campaign.
Thanks @“Greenwood Hall” - that gave me my best chuckle of the day!
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@LehighHawkDad Hi! Thanks for your response. Hmm, it sounds like the students aren’t that politically active but are fairly open-minded. Does this sound right? Thanks for mentioning the ‘Spotlight’ - I had no idea that Marty attended Lehigh. I watched the movie, so it definitely came as a surprise.
@“Greenwood Hall” Hi, thanks for your response. 
So the professors are fairly liberal, while the students don’t really care that much? Honestly, I don’t really have a problem with that. As long as I have a chance to be politically active and my professors are supporting me, I’ll be fine. I’m a bit disappointed that the students don’t care, but I guess that’s something I’d learn to cope with if I get accepted.
Keep in mind, a lot of this is a function of major. In any college, I believe, you will find engineers who have always been more STEM oriented and less interested in English, history and polysci… so naturally less politically active. Business majors tend to be more fiscally conservative to moderate, and more spread out in terms of social ethics (mostly depending on where they are from… at Lehigh… more East Coast… so liberal to libertarian). LAS majors tend to be more liberal… Lehigh is about 2/3 engineering and business and 1/3 LAS… so that is a good lens through which to look at the spectrum of students. Ever tried to get a groundswell of politically ardent students from an electrical engineering class?.. get my drift?
You can google “Lehigh University racial” and see examples of past racial incidents and the responses to them and make your own judgement.
@LehighHawkDad Yes, that makes sense. I hope to major in Business there but I’m very politically active and would consider myself to be very liberal. From what I’ve understood so far, I guess that the atmosphere will be pretty moderate with a lot of students who aren’t that interested in politics. I think I’m fine with that, as long as there are opportunities for me to voice my opinion and get involved in politics outside of the college. On a slightly different note, would you say that minorities are accepted and that the community is open-minded? Thank you for your help so far :))
@ClassicRockerDad Good idea! I’ll do that, it’ll probably give me some insight. Thanks! 
As far as minority acceptance, certainly. Lehigh has been very aggressive about diversifying it’s student body for the last decade – still has a lot of work to do (mostly because of location and it doesn’t have the endowment of an Ivy), but the school is dedicated to this goal. Just last year, it announced meeting full need for domestic students. Anecdotally, the campus was pretty devastated, on the whole, by this past election cycle. Trump voters exist, but only underground on campus.
@LehighHawkDad, I have to take issue with you regarding Trump supporters at Lehigh. There are plenty of undergraduates who support Trump and/or his policies, but they are driven underground by an intolerant administration and faculty. This may be a good thing for @Lana426, but for most students considering Lehigh, it is not. Lehigh has become a very unhappy place over the last couple of years, since the advent of President Simon and his administration’s toxic influence on undergraduate life.
@LehighHawkDad I’m glad to hear that the school has been a lot more dedicated to having a more diverse student body. It’s definitely important for me as I’ve been studying at an international school for the past 2 years (we have around 70 students and 30+ nationalities represented). From what I understood from your reply, they have a long way to go, but it’ll be nice to be a part of something that’s going in the right direction (if I get in, obviously).
@“Greenwood Hall” Would you say that Lehigh has become a place which only tolerates liberals? As I am one, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. However, I don’t like the idea of the administration favoring one mindset over the other. I think that open-mindedness is essentially being accepting of others’ perspectives, and it’s worrying that the administration might not be encouraging open discussion. Btw, what do you mean by ‘toxic influence’? Thanks
Can you be more specific about exactly how the administration and faculty drive them underground?
@ClassicRockerDad, the administration is relentless in its promotion of extreme progressive “social justice” principles. For example, take a look at Lehigh’s “Principals of our Equitable Community”, which are promoted at every turn, and several of which could have been taken directly from Mao’s Little Red Book. My favorite is: “We promote open expression of our individuality and our differences, within the bounds of university policies.” I would add that Lehigh’s University Policies occupy several hundred pages on the school’s website, and one needs a legal degree to digest them. Not surprisingly, these Policies do not allow for freedom speech.
I will offer a real world example: During the first week of my son’s freshman year, another student on his floor drew a male phallus on the whiteboard he had hung outside the door to his room. Rather than counseling the student artist on the bounds of good taste and appropriate dorm behavior, Lehigh sent a threatening 2 page, legalistic letter to each of the approximately 100 freshman on the floor, signed by the Assistant Director for Residential Life but drafted by the General Counsel’s Office. The letter advised each of these brand new freshman, most of whom were unaware of the ill-conceived artwork in question, that, among other things, “when we see offensive language/images… our first call is to LUPD” (LUPD is Lehigh’s armed police force). Imagine receiving such a letter as your first formal communication from Lehigh, in your first two weeks of college. And this was not a one-off incident. Intimidating, legalistic communication is par for the course at Lehigh, making it abundantly clear that views which stray from the administration’s social justice orthodoxy are not welcome at Lehigh.
I completely agree that Lehigh students are apathetic to politics generally, probably because the student body is very moderate (as opposed to the crazy liberal administration), and because liberal arts are so small relative to engineering and business. If the administration didn’t make a point out of opposing every little thing Trump does, maybe students would be more likely to be politically active. And mind you, this also hurts liberal students. They feel like everyone has the same preferences as them and they then don’t feel the need for political discourse when they don’t see any opposition.
But in the end, politics don’t come up outside the CAS and whatever emails Simon sends us; unless of course you choose to engage in discussion with other students.
@Greenwood Hall, I’m not fully understanding, no disrespect intended. Are you advocating more tolerance for offensive language/images?
These are the Principles of Equitable Community. Which ones do you object to or you think are from Mao’s little red book (the numbering is mine).
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Lehigh University is first and foremost an educational institution, committed to developing the future leaders of our changing global society.
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Every member of our community has a personal responsibility to acknowledge and practice the following basic principles:
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We affirm the inherent dignity in all of us, and we maintain an inclusive and equitable community.
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We recognize and celebrate the richness contributed to our lives by our diverse community.
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We promote mutual understanding among the members of our community.
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We confront and reject discrimination in all its forms, including that based on age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economics, veteran status, or any differences that have been excuses for misunderstanding, dissension, or hatred.
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We affirm academic freedom within our community and uphold our commitment to the highest standards of
respect, civility, courtesy, and sensitivity toward every individual. -
We recognize each person’s right to think and speak as dictated by personal belief and to respectfully disagree with or counter another’s point of view.
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We promote open expression of our individuality and our differences within the bounds of University policies.
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We acknowledge each person’s obligation to the community of which we have chosen to be a part.
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We take pride in building and maintaining a culture that is founded on these principles of unity and respect.
I googled the policies and I’m looking through the policies and I don’t understand which ones you are objecting to or which ones are keeping Trump supporters from being active. Most of them have to do with academics.
@ClassicRockerDad, I think @LUstudent21 paints an accurate picture from the perspective of a current student, because the students tend to tune out the administration and go about their daily lives; I know this is what my son does. Having said that, I think the administration has a highly pernicious effect on campus discourse and atmosphere, and on the general willingness of conservative students to voice their opinions. The “Principles” you listed above, which you find benign, are standard social justice warrior fare, intended to squelch the expression of any extreme opinions, or opinions which might give offense to the social justice warriors who rule Lehigh.
And, yes, I am advocating tolerance for offensive language and images. It is called freedom of speech, which unfortunately is in short supply at Lehigh.Who gets to decide what is offensive? And offensive to whom? And why would the General Counsel’s office send a 2-page demand letter to 100 freshman in their first week of school telling them that if they offend anyone, the administration will immediately call the armed police department on them. This is what happens in a police state; not in the United States of America (except at Lehigh).
With regard to Lehigh’s policies, I would direct your attention to: the Student Code of Conduct, which is essentially a lengthy penal code; the Student Handbook, which contains the Student Code of Conduct, as well as additional policies; the Social Policy, yet another penal code; and the Greek Eligibility Policy, yet another penal code. What kind of school needs multiple, extensive penal codes, and has its General Counsel’s office ghost write legalistic demand letters to large groups of beginning freshmen who have done nothing wrong?
I will offer another real world example: My son’s mandatory freshman writing class took place during the fall of 2016. Though it had no relevance to the class, the professor made very clear his support for Hillary and fervent opposition to Trump. At one point he asked the class members to tell the class which candidate they supported, and why. A number of class members described their support for Hillary. My son was the only one who spoke up for Trump, though he knew of several other Trump supporters in the class who were too intimidated to speak up. The focus of this writing class was the media. My son’s first paper took a conservative viewpoint and received a C-. He sent me the paper after the fact for any advice I could offer going forward. The paper was fine, so I suggested he simply take a liberal viewpoint on the remaining papers. He did so, and received A’s and B’s on all of them. Conservative opinions simply were not welcome in his freshman writing class.
Thanks for your reply. It was helpful. I think I understand where you are coming from.