@marvin100 - Is there anything you can say about the statistics or speakers names cited?
All I did was google the following phrase since you said it was untrue.
“which speakers invitations were rescinded due to protests on campus”
What’s wrong with free-market principles? Wasn’t our economic system founded on them? Are colleges that far left that our economic ideal – what you get when two of your ideals are Liberty and Property – is a four-letter word?
Of course, I can see there being a beef for attempting to get a state university to endorse a particular religion – as no state enterprise can constitutionally do so.
The OP’s son should stick up for his beliefs, but do it respectfully, and be willing to listen to others’.
@texaspg - that’s not the phrase I said is untrue. Look again.
@“Virginia Dad 1819” Thinking about it, there are many conservative voices whose home is Stanford. Condi Rice did an interview at Rose Bowl on Stanford’s behalf and she attends all of their sports events. Hoover Institute website prominently displays Charles Koch interview at the moment.
I was thinking in terms of domestic policy, Marvin, but thank you for the quote. 
@marvin100 - this is the paragraph. Breaking it up to the first sentence changes what I said since my first sentence is prefacing what I was aiming for which was that speakers keep getting dropped if they happen to be on the right side.
It is no different than CC where any right leaning source has to be discredited right away irrespective of whether the content is valid or not. Is it that only Soros funded entities have facts on their side that you never considered the content but were ready to put out an elaborate disclaimer on the source with citations?
The John Templeton Foundations Big Question Essay Series is delightful. Not a fringe group at all. I think there are many good southern schools that would fit the bill for this student. However, I tend to think we grow and develop more when we engage with people different than us. I attended Baylor. My first Thanksgiving I could not return home. A very kind Muslim Baylor student invited me to spend it with his family. I was grateful and it helped shape a “broader” life perspective. Yes, even at Baylor.
I think many parents are worried that their kids won’t fit in, won’t be accepted or will face some undo hardship for beliefs different than the dominant group. It is understandable. In fact, when you understand that, you can better understand the needs of the “actual” minority groups on campus and maybe worry a little less.
If your son is intelligent, thoughtful, and kind, he will have qualities that will ensure his success at any college. Even if someone ridicules him for his beliefs.
@“Virginia Dad 1819” we faced the same issue with our two older children who are now in college.
You have three fundamental alternatives;
- Academically elite universities and LACs, all of which have faculties that are strongly liberal (religiously and socially). The differences between these universities are generally in the student bodies. In the North the student bodies are also overwhelmingly liberal. Princeton, perhaps, a bit less so. Some of the Southern academically elite schools have student bodies that tend to be more conservative than those in the North (perhaps 25-30% versus 5-10%).
- Large Southern universities, many of which have a large conservative cohort within their student bodies (such as Clemson or Texas A&M). The trade-off is in the quality of the academics.
- An academically strong Christian LACs such as Wheaton (the one in Illinois). Again the trade-off is that while the quality of the academics is better than what is available at the large southern universities, it is not quite at the level of the elite universities.
We are from the Northeast and visited a number of the schools on your list. My son (now a Junior) chose to attend Duke because he believed he would be able to find friends who share his worldview. He has not been disappointed and has been pleasantly surprised that he, and others like him, are able to have a voice on campus (alongside many liberal voices). Based on my son’s experience, my daughter (now a freshman), after visiting elite Northeastern, Middle Atlantic and Midwestern universities and LACs (including Wheaton), EDed to Duke. Both have been socially and academically very satisfied and have greatly appreciated the breadth, depth and quality of the academic offerings of a leading research university with a relatively balanced student body.
Very best wishes with your college search process.
One note, you mentioned you are Anglican, not Episcopalian… In the USA.
If that means that your family is part of the group of the former Episcopalians who aligned themselves with the Anglican Church of Nigeria so that they can secede from the Episcopalian Church of the USA and still remain within the Anglican Communion as protest on the Episcopalian’s ordination of women and growing acceptance of LGBTs, then maybe you are better off focusing on finding Evangelical and Southern Baptist schools.
If you want your kid to be 100% with kids who share his brand of Christianity, the Jesuit, Methodist, Presbyterian, American Baptist and especially the well-endowed rich WASP Episcopalian schools are out of the question because those schools are “Christian Left”, not “Christian Right”. In fact, none of the great schools on your list would be a perfect match because the Ivies, the little Ivies, the Ivy-Pluses (like Stanford/UChicago), - all of them were founded or initially staffed by pastors and leaders from the Christian Left. And that ethos still permeates those places. The public Ivies, the regional powerhouses and the tech powerhouses inherited the same characteristics because their founding presidents and policy makers were products of the Ivies, little Ivies and Ivy Pluses.
If you are willing to compromise, research the schools on your list and look for ones that are known to espouse free market economics or libertarian politics. That is the best you can do when it comes to the tippy top colleges.
If you are not willing to compromise: Wheaton College.
I think that is a College for your kid, if encountering non-Christian Right people everyday is a big issue. It is anabashedly Christian. It is not top 5 but it is well regarded enough even in non-Christian circles. It is still 4 steps below most of the schools on your list though.
Good luck
I wasn’t denying the second statement, just the first, because the second statement isn’t sufficient to establish the preceding one, sort of like this: “Vegetarians are unhealthy. Eating meat provides nutrients.” Just logic.
[O RLY](N. Gregory Mankiw)?
@“Virginia Dad 1819” I’d suggest that your son look at Williams. Outstanding math, sciences and economics (though no engineering). Overall the college faculty and student body leans left – as do most of the other colleges on your son’s list – but conservative voices are given equal opportunity, and the faith-affiliated community is active and supported.
@momrath, I am happy to hear that. When I visited Williams with my children, and in doing internet research I could find no sign of it.
@marvin100, Clearly there are individuals who are exceptions, but as a general rule, it has been my experience that the faculties and administrations at all of the academically elite universities lean strongly to the left. This is based on having spent considerable time at a number of the “elite” universities and LACs, and having academics and university administrators in the family (at Ivies). If you see it differently I would be interested to hear your thoughts as to where.
@am61517 - I agree there are more professors on the left, but that should come as no surprise given the overwhelming tendency of the highly educated to identify as left-leaning politically. Consider [this Pew study](A Deep Dive Into Party Affiliation | Pew Research Center):
My contention, though, is that this is not by design and does not indicate either a monolith or an inhospitable environment for academics with right-leaning views; every reputable college and university I know of has a contingent of such academics.
There’s a difference between finding a college where there are deeply religious Christian students and where free-trade or free-market or libertarian values are supported - and all viewpoints are part of the discourse, even if some perspectives are more widely held,
And
Finding a university where it’s okay to think less of someone because they’re not white, male, and Christian.
Honestly, speaking with derision or contempt about women, African Americans, Latinos, or LGBTQ individuals, is NOT ‘conservative’. It is racist, intolerant, bigoted, and whatever else you want. Some people think that calling racism or intolerance ‘conservative’ Will make it more palatable to most, but let’s not confuse a student who shows no respect for others different from him and a student who defends free market ideals. In the same way, a student who insists all who don’t share his beliefs will go to hell and this will try to convert others, Will not be in the same situation as a recignized Christian who can discuss with others.
The issue OP fears is that his/her son Will non ne shown respect if he expresses his views and while that would likely happen at Oberlin I think he’d be fine in most elite colleges if he isn’t camouflaging racism under 'conservatism '.
@marvin100, interesting Pew Study. It makes you wonder if the correlation between party affiliation and higher education simply relates to the more extensive exposure of those who are more educated to liberal professors and their views.
You might find the statistics in the following link interesting, as they suggest not only a left leaning academic community, but that the shift left is increasing:
Party affiliation and funding of candidates among elite college faculty both lean very strongly toward the Democratic Party, and, I would suggest, the more academically elite the college, the more left leaning.
I don’t disagree that there is a contingent of conservative professors at every college. However, they tend to be a relatively silent minority. Given the surge in political correctness in recent years, I can’t agree that the environment is as benign as you suggest for right leaning views or professors particularly at elite Northeastern universities and research centers. I have seen professors and researchers moved out or sidelined for expressing conservative views, and others remain quiet to avoid any potentially negative consequences.
OP, just recognize your S will graduate from college as a changed person. Most students do, for the better.
40 years ago the New Testament professor at my small, conservative LAC said to his small group of advisees during the first week of school, “there may be many paths to heaven.” I was dumbfounded, and very uncomfortable.
Over the course of the year he became one of the people I most admire in the world.
@Zinhead Astonishing right. Did you also see the many posts recommending Evangelical schools for an Anglican. Perhaps theology should be a requirement at all schools.