<p>I visited AU and really liked it both times. I love the city of Washington D.C. and am very politically active. The only issue is the student body and literalness of AU. I have heard from people that AU is extremely liberal and that there are a ton of gays. When i visited there in the fall it didn’t really appear that way. I am definitely conservative, though not crazy right wing. I accept gays, I’m just not sure how comfortable I would be with a very open gay atmosphere. Other than those I love every thing I have heard about AU. Can someone, preferably a current student, shed some light on these issues. If I am accepted I’m planning on doing an overnight visit to get a better feel.</p>
<p>I’m a current freshman whose transfering next semester to a state school. This is COMPLETELY based on what I’ve witness here: I considered myself somewhat political active before attending this school but as I got to the school I realized that it REALLY REALLY is political active. Most of my days I feel like I can’t have a normal conversation with a majority of the people here because it always leads to politics, instead of talking about how our days were and stuff of that nature. In terms of the gays, it is totally noticable! How open are you talking about it turns of the atmosphere? For the most part I haven’t seen too many couples (gay or straight) go on like full makeouts in public unless it’s on the shuttle.</p>
<p>AU’s student body is definitely politically aware and politically active. This is true of most college campuses in the District. AU’s student body is, on balance, definitely left of center–more so than some places, and less so than others. AU isn’t Washington & Lee, but it isn’t Oberlin or Reed, either. AU is definitely gay-friendly.</p>
<p>I can tell you what AU is like, but I can’t tell you whether you’ll like it or not.</p>
<p>I agree with Sikorsky While there are definitely conservative students and an active Young Republican club, I get the impression the majority of the student body is liberal. Based on your comments about gays, I think you would be happier in a more conservative environment.</p>
<p>AU’s student body is politically active, mainly liberal, although there are some conservatives, I’m sure. I have no idea “how many” gays are on campus, but my D shares an apartment with the President of Queers and Allies and they are very active on campus. The president of the student body (last year, I think) was transgendered - so that campus is very, very gay friendly. Does that bother you? Maybe AU isn’t for you (Hint: the housing application asks for gender: male, female or other)</p>
<p>Thanks for all your opinions. I am fine with it being politically left. I’m not sure about the gay part. I think I’m just going to end up doing an overnight visit to see how I feel about the atmosphere. It’s hard for me to tell you what I think of it, as I hardly see/experience it in my daily life, as I go to a conservative catholic high school. Right now Georgetown is my number one, but I am really hoping to have another fallback in D.C. and I didn’t care for GW’s urban campus.</p>
<p>My D is a senior, and one of the least political people I know. She has never been bothered one way or the other about too much political stuff on campus. But she is not in the SPA or SIA, where I imagine the most politically oriented students are majoring. Her friends are also pretty non-political–I guess that’s why they are friends! But the idea that everyone is talking about politics all the time is just silly. Read the Eagle (the student newspaper), which is available online, and you’ll see there are a myriad of topics that interest the students.</p>
<p>As for the number of GBLT students, well, welcome to a big city on the east coast! The only downside of the “gay part”, as you call it, is that straight woman have fewer dating options. I’ve spent a lot of time on the AU campus, and excessive PDA’s of any sexual orientation are not something I see–but if that would bother you, I suggest you attend a conservative college, because you’ll find open gay relationships on every other college campus. Or, you could broaden your horizons and be open to all knowing members of the human race.</p>
<p>MommaJ - I laughed when I read your last sentence because that is exactly what my husband said when I told him about this thread!</p>
<p>I cringe when I hear or read the phrase “the gays”. I assume the same people would refer to me as one of “the Jews” or my friend as one of “the blacks”. If you insist on lumping people together into groups defined by sexual preference, ethnicity or religion you would most definitely be happier in a smaller more conservative college where there will be less danger of having your mind expanded.</p>
<p>Just noticed that there was a typo in the last sentence of my post #7. Should have been “be open to knowing all members.” Apparently I type badly when I’m irritated…</p>
<p>I don’t mean to offend anyone. The reason I am so unsure about the topic is because I come from a town that is very non diverse. I am not able to experience and witness different ways of life. And because of this I don’t have the same attitude and open mind as someone who has diversity, of all types, in their daily life. This being said I would appreciate it if people posting in this thread would focus more on AU and less on my attitudes towards the lbgtq community</p>
<p>If you come from a non-diverse background, then attending AU might be a great learning experience for you. There are students of all kinds - white, black, international, straight, gay, Christian, Jewish (actually a large Jewish student body). It is really very cosmopolitan, open, accepting, fun campus. You’ll have a chance to explore DC, which never grows old, IMO.</p>
<p>I have a question. Even amongst, the politically based majors in SPA and SIS, is there a culture of being obsessed with politics? I am interested in politics but don’t want it around me 24/7. I’m considering doing a political course for UC, would this be a bad idea given my concerns?</p>
<p>Eh, AU is diverse in a way and not diverse as well.
It’s diverse in that there are many different ethnic groups/nationalities as well as religious beliefs, etc. However, I feel that a very large population (at least 50%) are white, very liberal, democrat, etc. Coming from a conservative background as well, I had to adjust a bit but it’s nothing too bad. Georgetown would probably be better for you but I’m having a good time at AU with my own group of friends (which consist of conservatives and liberals alike as well as one gay person). It’d be nice if most people shared the same views as you but it’s definitely not a deal breaker.</p>
<p>the point of college is to expand your point of view and leave your comfort zone so you should really challenge yourself with that regardless of where you end up</p>
<p>
I think that’s true within reason, but not absolutely true. Should I go to BYU if I’m not Mormon, don’t have any interest in becoming a Mormon, and fundamentally disagree with certain core values and beliefs of the LDS church, just so I can have my horizons broadened? I don’t think so. Should a Pentecostal Christian from Hot Springs, Arkansas, go to Yeshiva, or a Lubavitcher from Brooklyn go to Liberty, just for the sake of meeting different people? I don’t think so.</p>
<p>I think there really is a point at which it’s OK to say, “This place is too unlike me, and I wouldn’t be happy there.”</p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC</p>
<p>Sikorsky, I get your point. But you are using as examples (albeit extreme examples), schools that have almost a singular demographic group. AU is left leaning, more politically aware than most and more diverse than many. It is that plurality of beliefs and lifestyles that bring exposure and experiences that most often broaden a student’s comfort zone over time. Being exposed to new beliefs, cultures and values is in my opinion a large part of how one gains a more broad world view and why most of us go to a university over a trade school. In my opinion, it is only after becoming aware of what is around you in the world that you can make the informed choices that define your own core values.</p>
<p>Well, yes, pushydad, that’s exactly what I’m doing, because I’m trying to validate my position that “the point of college is to expand your point of view and leave your comfort zone” isn’t completely true. After that point is made, then we can haggle over the extent to which it is true and the extent to which it isn’t.</p>
<p>Or we could not do that. I’d prefer not to. I chimed in merely to try to stick up a bit for a young person who I think has been subject in this thread to some pretty personal invective from people who don’t see eye to eye with him. (Or her. Sorry, gbaby, I don’t know your sex.)</p>
<p>For the record, I am quite sure I don’t see eye to eye with the OP either. I am liberal and Jewish and straight, but rainbow-friendly. But that isn’t the point. The OP is a young person who’s expressing some understandable anxiety about spending several years in a milieu that’s very different from the homogeneous, socially and politically conservative one in which he (or she) has been raised. The OP has not said anything that’s disrespectful of gays or liberals or non-Christians; quite the contrary, the OP has gone out of his (or her) way not to. All this poster did was to ask whether it’s possible that a person with socially and politically conservative leanings could be happy at AU.</p>
<p>Thirty-two years ago, I was this kid. I was on the brink of leaving the medium-size Midwestern city where I’d been raised–in a setting where most people were white, where even the Democrats on the ballot were really Republicans in everything but name, and where everybody, including me, was Christian–to go to a liberal East Coast college. To be sure, college changed me. A lot. I mostly like the changes, but the process of changing was scary and often difficult, and the effects of those changes have been long-lasting and not always easy. I had a huge blow-out with my parents when I was in college, and although we mended fences, my relationship with them was never as easy or close or trusting afterward. Now, I couldn’t bear to live in the town or move in the same social circle where I spent my high-school years.</p>
<p>Yes, I believe that if gbaby has had a sheltered youth and adolescence, then he or she ought to seek experiences in college that will give him or her wider experience. Yes, I hope that one effect of that wider experience will be realizing that Jews, atheists, Muslims, gay people, bisexuals, Democrats and socialists are human beings, too, and that they don’t believe what they believe or value what they value because they have a stubborn desire to be “wrong.” There’s something of value in most, if not all, of these people, and something that makes sense about their beliefs and values, or else they would abandon them. To that extent, I agree with you.</p>
<p>But you know what? The same thing applies to many people who’ve grown up sheltered, and who have little or no experience with Jews, bisexuals or socialists. And castigating them instead of talking to them is every bit as wrong as railing against “the gays” or “the Jews.”</p>
<p>I believe the OP is a young person on the verge of making a serious, anxiety-provoking decision with long-term consequences. And I believe some people in this thread should have cut this young person a bit more slack than they did.</p>
<p>I think that in most ways we are saying the same thing. I do get that leaving one’s comfort zone in such a extreme way is very anxiety provoking and often very difficult. I just think it is very much worth the anxiety and effort in order to grow as a person. You are right to offer more support and understanding then some of us on this thread have. My name is Pushydad for a reason :-).</p>
<p>I, too, think we’ve mostly been saying the same things. But thank you for listening to my point.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC</p>