<p>I tend to lean left in matters of politics, but I do not support a lax view on drugs and sex, nor do I agree with the pompous attitude of superiority some liberals exude. </p>
<p>So what university has a student body that generally aligns with the left on environmental and civil rights issues, but is not overly supercilious or hippiesque?</p>
<p>Ah yes, the communitarian dilemma. Many religious schools may fit the bill, in creed if not in deed. I feel that more academically inclined universities may also work, in deed if not in creed.</p>
<p>Claremont?</p>
<p>USC maybe another one</p>
<p>Sex, drugs, and rock and roll killed America.</p>
<p>One approach would be to look for a school that has a strong Environmental Studies program, a student body as diverse as you want it to be … plus the option of living in a substance-free, single-sex dorm. In other words, correlate your goal to objective indicators (demographics, policies) and look for those, instead of (or in addition to) seeking subjective opinions about school characteristics.</p>
<p>There are lots of schools that fit your description but for the lax views on sex. Lax views on sex – which I take to mean a lack of judgment regarding other people’s choices rather than a culture where everyone is expected to participate in orgies – are virtually universal at good schools. And some schools that are very conservative politically have a party culture and tons of sex going on (maybe even more than you’d find at a crunchy place like Hampshire or Oberlin). The SEC schools come to mind here.</p>
<p>I think you misunderstood the OP, Hanna.</p>
<p>You know, I’m American, so I’m looking for a school with nothing but Americans who only study American issues, who only talk about this country and its culture, and who will never expose me to anything new but only reinforce my current America-centric views.</p>
<p>Most of us would concur that that’s a pretty silly concept for a high education. So why do we think it’s any more defensible to seek a college based upon a desire to avoid having your current political or societal leanings challenged?</p>
<p>gadad, I’m sure that would happen just about anywhere. On the same note, you could question why an openly gay man would not want to go to a small and very conservative religious college. It would most likely challenge his “political or societal leanings”. In order to effectively learn people need to be able to be comfortable somewhere within their school. And I really don’t see how sex and drugs help anyone learn in the first place.</p>
<p>Being gay isn’t a leaning that one might change with greater exposure to diverse viewpoints. But:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>. . . these are things that could change significantly over time. As far as sex and drugs, they’re optional activities - both for college students and for others. If you don’t support them, don’t do them, and if you’re concerned about being subjected to peer pressure, then your convictions may need some strengthening. But wherever you go - for college or beyond - you’ll have to learn to live in a world with a variety of viewpoints and a wide range of practices. Having a sense of how to respond to them is a key adult skill.</p>
<p>
I did not mean to imply that it was (and indeed I did not as I quoted you in saying “political or societal leanings”), I was simply generalizing in a way that would show how one may be made to felt uncomfortable with one’s own views and convictions simply by being around others. In that sense someone presumed to be very liberal on most issues would be made to feel quite uncomfortable in a conservative setting which may impair his or her ability to learn. No one, no matter how heartfelt their views are, is immune from it, although you say otherwise. Whatever College the OP goes to he is bound to run across them, only, if he goes to the College he is looking for, he will have the social support behind his views to help and strengthen his convictions and help to make him less susceptible to these peer pressures when he does go out into the wide wide world. More importantly, however, he will feel more comfortable which will allow him to learn better. College, despite popular opinion, is for more than just the experience. That said, I believe a College that contains all types of diversity is the best setting to learn all types of things in. You can find your comfortable niche but still be around others with different beliefs and backgrounds and benifit from their experiences.</p>
<p>gadad said----------------------- “Most of us would concur that that’s a pretty silly concept for a high education. So why do we think it’s any more defensible to seek a college based upon a desire to avoid having your current political or societal leanings challenged?”</p>
<p>I’m afraid I did a poor job clarifying what I was looking for if that is the type of responses I am getting… You are exactly right gadad, I am after a campus that exposes me to different views, not JUST radical liberals or extreme conservatives. But I do not want a drug culture or party atmosphere of a school to distract me from learning, I consider myself a very open minded person but when the particular culture of a school detracts from the academics it becomes a problem.</p>
<p>So I am looking for a strong environmental related program without the potentially detrimental(IMO) hippie culture that typically accompanies such schools…</p>
<p>I just dont want to be constantly pressured by dorm mates to participate in certain activities I disagree with, and if that is the prevailing attitude of a university I want to stay away.</p>
<p>Sorry but I do not view college as an opportunity to subject myself to unwanted pressures, it is not intolerant or narrow minded to attempt to stray away from illegal and dangerous activities. I think I can expand my horizons and learn about new cultures and ideas without being subject to harmful pastimes, there is a difference between disliking new ideas and wanting to learn in a wholesome environment.</p>
<p>Wisconsin Madison and Michigan fit well.</p>
<p>I’m pretty conservative politically but I am probably going to Madison in two years. It is very open to all viewpoints but it is primarily liberal in vibe. I am looking forward to screaming at loony liberals for four years :D</p>
<p>Entirely in sympathy with onthefly.
To me, too liberal (or too conservative) equals intolerance where the rubber meets the road.
No reason to spend four years with people like that.
Should women work in a hostile environment to stretch their points of view? How about gays? Or should folks who voted for George Bush suffer the slings and arrows of their Bard classmates and be blacklisted, socially and intellectually?
I get having your views challenged, but living in a hostile environment for your beliefs is another thing.
And to have you or your parents PAY for the opportunity to be abused? No reason to have this happen in a free country.</p>
<p>I agree with onthefly too. I would be what you’d consider a liberal person, but I don’t like rampant sex and drugs either.</p>
<p>In 2007 a poster did an unscientific Facebook survey of the political leanings of the students that attend colleges in the USNWR Top 20 National Universities.</p>
<p>Students could choose among the following:</p>
<p>Very Liberal
Liberal
Moderate
Conservative
Very Conservative
No Answer</p>
<p>The most interesting fact is that there was a large number of students who described themselves as either Moderate or had no Opinion. This represented the large majority on all of these campuses. </p>
<p>Total % of students self-identifying as Moderate or Provided No Answer , College</p>
<p>78% , MIT
75% , Harvard
74% , Cal Tech
74% , U Penn
74% , J Hopkins
73% , Princeton
73% , Stanford
73% , Columbia
72% , Duke
72% , U Chicago
72% , Dartmouth
72% , Cornell
70% , Yale
70% , Emory
70% , Notre Dame
69% , Northwestern
69% , Rice
69% , Vanderbilt
68% , Brown
67% , Wash U StL</p>
<p>On the wings, this is how the schools compared:</p>
<p>Total % of students self-identifying as Liberal or Very Liberal , College</p>
<p>30% , Brown
28% , Wash U StL
27% , Northwestern
26% , Yale
25% , Emory
24% , Stanford
24% , U Chicago
24% , Columbia
23% , Rice
22% , Harvard
22% , Cal Tech
22% , Dartmouth
22% , Cornell
21% , Princeton
21% , U Penn
21% , Duke
20% , J Hopkins
19% , MIT
17% , Vanderbilt
15% , Notre Dame</p>
<p>Total % of students self-identifying as Conservative or Very Conservative , College</p>
<p>15% Notre Dame
14% Vanderbilt
8% Rice
7% Duke
6% Princeton
6% Dartmouth
6% Cornell
6% J Hopkins
5% U Penn
5% Wash U StL
5% Emory
4% Yale
4% Cal Tech
4% U Chicago
4% Northwestern
3% Harvard
3% Stanford
3% MIT
3% Columbia
2% Brown</p>
<p>William & Mary/Davidson come to mind as good choices for the OP.</p>
<p>thanks for the responses, I will look into your recommendations</p>
<p>don’t go to Bard. lol</p>