<p>Judging from these schools' Facebook network profiles, they're all pretty damn liberal. I know not everybody uses Facebook, and of those who do, many don't post political identification, but unless there's some reason why significantly more of one group would do so over another, I think it's an okay indicator.</p>
<p>Brown 30% liberal 2% conservative
WashU 28% liberal 5% conservative
Northwestern 27% L 4% C
Yale 26% L 4& C
Emory 25% L 5% C
Columbia 24% 3% C
Stanford 24% L 3% C
UChicago 24% L 4% C
Rice 23% L 8% C
Harvard 22% L 3% C
Caltech 22% L 4% C
Cornell 22% L 6% C
Dartmouth 22% L 6% C
Penn 21% L 5% C
Princeton 21% L 6% C
Duke 21% L 7% C
Johns Hopkins 20% L 6% C
MIT 19% L 4% C</p>
<p>The only schools where there's any real competition are Vanderbilt (17% liberal 14% conservative) and Notre Dame (15% L 15% C).</p>
<p>The top 10 LACs come off as even more tilted (sample: Amherst 31% liberal 3% conservative). I can post them if anybody cares.</p>
<p>Remember that oftentimes there is a split, although shrinking, between students and the administration/trustees (Dartmouth), and between students and alumni (Princeton, Yale). A lot of people think Princeton is conservative because they are more familiar with its famous moderate-to-right leaning alumni in political/judiciary offices. However, the clear majority of the student body is liberal. It is also true that conservative contingent at Princeton is very active and publishes a lot of material.</p>
<p>As far as the Facebook networks, I'd tend to think that those were more likely to be skewed in favor of liberals. I would tend to think that admitting you were a conservative in most colleges, which are typically considered "liberal" institutions, would be frowned upon by others. Plus, liberals in general might be prouder of their beliefs, especially if said beliefs are different from the norm in their family/community.</p>
<p>^Don't take that as a political attack in any way, shape, or form on any group. I'm just basing it on personal experience as a conservative in a predominantly liberal area.</p>
<p>Do not make the mistake that Princeton is conservative anymore. Nowadays all the top school are so diverse that they tend to lean leftward. My cousin, an '08, says he and his friends feel alienated at times from the uber-liberal majority of students.</p>
<p>"how it can be more right-leaning than any school in the south such as Vandy."
well 84% of the student are from out of state. I'm not sure how that splits up into north and south though...
Also I remember reading somewhere that liberal/conservative is split more along rural/urban than north south.</p>
<p>
[quote]
As far as the Facebook networks, I'd tend to think that those were more likely to be skewed in favor of liberals. I would tend to think that admitting you were a conservative in most colleges, which are typically considered "liberal" institutions, would be frowned upon by others. Plus, liberals in general might be prouder of their beliefs, especially if said beliefs are different from the norm in their family/community.
[/quote]
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<p>Thank you, affle for posting that. Very true.</p>
<p>And I think people give way to much credit to Vanderbilt being "slightly liberal" or "moderate." It is swinging to the left as the administration is looking to diversify and bring in more students from the northeast and minorities, but it is still largely a right of center school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And I think people give way to much credit to Vanderbilt being "slightly liberal" or "moderate." It is swinging to the left as the administration is looking to diversify and bring in more students from the northeast and minorities, but it is still largely a right of center school.
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</p>
<p>I'm a current student at Vanderbilt and each year we receive a student survey to fill out. The last survey showed the majority of students were liberal (a poll in our student newspaper showed similiar findings). I have been in political science classrooms where I have been out-numbered by liberals. Nevertheless, in general having a split student body is perfect for discussion. You don't really learn anything when everyone thinks the same way. Its much better to have people who disagree with you; it forces you to back up your points.</p>
<p>
[quote]
administration is looking to diversify and bring in more students from the northeast and minorities
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<p>Vanderbilt has good diversity. The number of African-Americans and Latinos at Vandy equal or exceed the number at other elite schools. Vanderbilt lacks Asians comparatively (7%) but all other groups are well-represented.</p>
<p>In 2000 Dartmouth voted 77% for Gore, 10% Nader, and 25% for Bush (The Dartmouth poll). In 2004 Dartmouth about 85% voted for Kerry. So Dartmouth is hardly conservative, although (similar to most Ivies) there is a small but vocal group of conservative students. Also like most Ivies, these conservatives tend to be libertarian. </p>
<p>Dartmouth's conservative reputation is significantly outdated.</p>
<p>Slipper: You said that most conservatives on Ivy League campuses are libertarians. If they are libertarians, how can they be conservatives? I always thought the spectrum was a circle with conservatives on the right, liberals on the left, libertarians on the top middle and moderates on the bottom middle. Isn't libertarianism (sp?) separate from conservatism.</p>
<p>Notre Dame has conservative administrators but left-leaning students (remember that since President Kennedy Catholics are pretty much split between liberals and conservatives, and younger people tend to be more liberal) That being said I've never seen anyone harassed in a classroom or the dining hall for being either left or right leaning.</p>
<p>bananaphone: Just because conservatism and libertarianism are technically separate doesn't mean that most students will bother themselves with the distinctions. I don't know how prevalent it is in general or on Ivy campuses, but I've also seen a number of 'conservative' students admit that they're technically libertarians. Most of them have felt that it's easier to just say "conservative," since that's a decently close approximation and requires less explanation/elaboration.</p>
<p>Libertarians believe in individual freedom and minimal government interference. So basically they are for low taxes, free trade, few government-sponsored social programs, and lots of personal freedoms.</p>
<p>I think most conservatives at top colleges tend to be more libertarian than socially conservative because libertarianism is a political philosophy based more on reason and pragmatism than emotion or religion (in fact, "Reason" is a top libertarian magazine). So while most libertarians (at least that I know) usually vote Republican, they really have much more in common with a Republican like Barry Goldwater than a Republican like Pat Robertson.</p>
<p>When I think of libertarianism I often think of political philosopher Ayn Rand, an author of books with titles such as "The Virtue of Selfishness" and "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal."</p>