<p>I guess "Better dead than Red" now takes on a whole new meaning :) .</p>
<p>That's basically what the article said...how come Austin ranked below Dallas? From what I can gather, the only criteria was the 2004 presidential election. To me, that isn't the only thing that would make a town liberal or conservative.</p>
<p>I'm sure, just like the best and worst cities, best colleges, etc...there will be challenges to this list as well!</p>
<p>Is Florida considered "South?" How about the state school in Gainesville? Now what IS the name of that place? I hear the athletics are good. --- But seriously, flagship public universities across the south have changed dramatically during the past twenty years (as have the meanings of the terms "liberal" and "conservative.") I've recently worked with faculty and students at UT-Austin, UFlorida and UGeorgia, and I would have no trouble recommending any of these institutions to my own family members. And of course UVirgina and UNC are also terrific.</p>
<p>Though I don't have personal experience with this school, I suspect that Rhodes College in Memphis has a "liberal" tinge because the College encourages its students to get help out in the Memphis community. I understand Rhodes is in an older gentrified part of Memphis but not far from city neighborhoods that benefit from the students' involvement.</p>
<p>Hendrix College in Arkansas is also known to have a more liberal student body. It is similar to Austin College and Southwestern University in Texas both in number of students and selectivity.</p>
<p>Another "I would suspect" having a large contingent of liberal kids would be Tulane University in New Orleans. Tulane is also in a very nice "old money" section of New Orleans but not far from nitty gritty neighborhoods that I'm sure benefit from student volunteers.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me what "liberal" and "conservative" mean in this context? Is a hard drinking, hard partying kid who happens to go to church on Sunday, volunteers to help inner city kids, is right to life and supports the Iraq war conservative or liberal? Is the engineering nerd (perhaps at Georgia tech) who never drinks, opposes the Iraq war, and hasn't figured out a stand on other issues L or C?</p>
<p>I'm glad the world cannot be so easily categorized in real life. Truth is, I think a lot of issues other than L or C will govern college student happiness more strongly.</p>
<p>My S and I toured Vandy during the election. The undergrads split fifty fifty in the mock election and there were good college rags on both sides and decent quality discourse writing in them. Big welcome change. They all went for Reagan when my husband and I were there which was pretty odd for an undergrad college and pretty stifling. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt is most definitely much more diverse culturally, religiously and politically now compared to a decade ago...which means you can thrive there no matter where you are from and skip the old debutante world scene totally. We were very impressed with the students we met there from the NE, Chicago, California as well as from Birmingham and Atlanta. Nashville is also a melting pot city with a lot of interesting professionals in every field working and lunching all around Vanderbilt. Really like the place and loved living in Nashville.
UVa and Wm and Mary are very balanced politically.</p>
<p>Ahem, ahhh - Duke.
Also Emory, Tulane (somewhat dichotomous student body, I think)Guilford, New College, Hendrix, UMiami (compared to other Southern.
What about W&M?</p>
<p>Trinity is not that conservative - all but one professor in poli sci are liberals. The kids love getting together with them and having political discussions at the student center. This was one of the reasons my D considered it, but decided to go elsewhere, after all. Our tour guide was given a few weeks off to go home and campaign for Kerry/Edwards (she was from Edwards' state).</p>
<p>Parentsoftwo: Your comment, "For what it's worth, I think there is probably a high correlation between drawing students from a nation-wide pool and having a more 'liberal' environment," may be true for many state universities, but not so for UNC-Chapel Hill. Its reputation as politically liberal is well-founded. Cangel's inclusion of Duke, however, which does draw from a larger national pool, might be a little misleading, though. In comparison to UNC, certainly, Duke is considered more conservative (and, of course, equally difficult to gain acceptance as UNC would be to the out-of-stater OP.)</p>
<p>Warren Wilson College in Brevard, NC, is known for very liberal views.</p>
<p>I would think that Duke would have its share of liberal students as well, in that there's a significant population of "Northerners" there.</p>
<p>Warren Wilson is in Asheville. Brevard College is in Brevard. Love seeing those white squirrels in Brevard!</p>
<p>But yes, Warren Wilson is rather liberal. Quite interesting, too - very environmentally focused.</p>
<p>Not yet mentioned: Hendrix College in Arkansas is one of the most liberal schools in the south. It's my impression that Eckerd in Florida also has a fairly liberal student body.</p>
<p>fireflyscout!</p>
<p>Thanks, I am slipping!</p>
<p>Pretty much any honors college at a southern state school is bound to be liberal or at least moderate. Here at UGA, the majority of people are clearly liberal and there are some who would fit right in at Reed. Even the conservatives are usually well-informed and intelligent, so you actually get a good variety of opinions.</p>
<p>I'd categorize W & M as being more liberal than conservative politically, with very vocal proponents of both sides. The many students I've met are certainly informed and hold strong opinions - not surprising considering the number of Government majors there. A few of my d's friends have found employment after graduation working for elected officials and/or political organizations.</p>
<p>
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Vanderbilt is most definitely much more diverse culturally, religiously and politically now compared to a decade ago...which means you can thrive there no matter where you are from and skip the old debutante world scene totally.
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</p>
<p>Thanks, Faline - this is a relief to us, as d2 is headed there in just 3 days (it also affirms our own observations). She's not extreme politically and wouldn't want a campus where everyone mirrored her own views in any case - but she has wondered where she'll fit in the political spectrum at Vandy. One of the school newpaper columnists, a conservative, did a column last year about feeling isolated from the primarily liberal beliefs of the student body. I don't think he was kidding - though of course I don't know just how conservative he is, either.</p>
<p>Nashville and Davidson County went for Kerrey in 2004, fwiw.</p>
<p>Is Agnes Scott liberal? Now granted, I've been out of college awhile, but my impression of Agnes Scott was that it was a lot like the VA women's colleges with which I was familiar. At the time they were pretty conservative.</p>