<p>I’ve heard that Brown is a very liberal campus, (which is a plus in my book) but I also know that too much liberalism can lead to a PC atmosphere, which I really hate. I consider myself very liberal–I support gay marriage, socialism, recreational drugs–but I don’t want someone jumping down my throat if I say something inappropriate. I come from an extremely diverse high school, and we all just make fun of each other all day, and it’s chill. Nobody really takes themselves too seriously. </p>
<p>So, is Brown liberal as in laid-back? Or liberal as in PC?</p>
<p>From my experience, it is more a laid-back liberalism.</p>
<p>There are certain things that most Brown students would take immediate issue with (ie. overtly racist/homophobic language), but for the most part the students are definitely not hyper-PC.</p>
<p>It’s not UC-Berkley. but the population is definitely well left of center and it’s a PC atmosphere. Meaning it is like a majority of college campuses in the U.S. Given Brown’s culture, you will be openly challenged if you stray too far to the right in your views, but not in a threatening way. Like I said, it’s not Berkley. Discourse is allowed.</p>
<p>is brown more PC/challenging in regards to social conservatism? cuz while i’m socially liberal, i’m fiscally conservative (liberal libertarian, i guess you’d call it.) would people at brown constantly be challenging my opinions on fiscal matters and the like? </p>
<p>also is brown a very political school? i.e. are most people really into politics, protesting, etc? i can go for political discussions and protests sometimes but i’m not sure if i’d like a school where that is a huge focus a lot of the time.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses so far, anyone else wanna chime in?</p>
<p>This is a really big issue for me, mostly because I visited Macalester awhile ago and found it to be just unbearably stiflingly PC. And I don’t mean politically, like I was afraid to watch Dave Chappelle clips in front of people for fear that they would get offended.</p>
<p>whitecadillac, you might want to start reading the Brown Daily Herald regularly to figure that out. If you do a search there for SDS, you’ll read about what is probably the most radical group on campus, who has been pretty active with protests.</p>
<p>The amount of protesting comes and goes. In the early 90s, there was a very active group protesting the fact that Brown was need-aware – they stormed U-Hall and were arrested. It took years (and Ruth Simmons) to change Brown’s policy, and frankly, as an alum I was proud of their efforts and glad that they actively protested. </p>
<p>My impression is that students are most vocal about social issues as opposed to fiscal ones. And I don’t think protests are happening constantly. But I am hoping that more current students chip in with an answer to your question, and bob’s.</p>
<p>Yeah, if there are huge political protests and rallies, I’ve missed just about all of them…</p>
<p>I get the impression that Columbia is the left-leaning East Coast school that does the most actual protesting.</p>