<p>To my knowledge, there has not been a lot of talk about the political atmosphere on campus. Can anyone share their thoughts? I heard and also read that overall, Emory leans to the left. To what extent is this true? If not, how would you desribe the political beliefs of most people? Are people simply indifferent?</p>
<p>On a personal note, my beliefs are, what many would call, very liberal (advocate of gay rights, gender and race equality, advocate of animal rights, mostly pro-choice, anti-death penalty, agnostic, pacifist etc...) and I also like to have friendly debates and do like to voice my opinion. I am unsure about whether people on campus will think I'm crazy or whether there are a fair bit of like-minded people. I researched this before applying but did not go too deep into it so I guess now is a good time to ask before I head off to campus. So I'd really appreciate it if some current students commented on the political atmosphere at Emory. Thanks.</p>
<p>No, your views are common, even amongst those with a mono-theistic religion. The campus is pre-dominantly liberal (or at least liberals are most vocal). I don’t think I would go on to say hippie-“ish”, but it leans left. I haven’t met too many conservative people here from outside of the south (of course, they were mainly white and Asian American). The liberal scene is huge here. You’ll be fine. I used to think the sustainability thing was merely a gimmick (and to some degree, it is), but many students and faculty poor their hearts into this issue. You know we also host the huge AIDs quilt. Sometimes (actually, for a while it was every week), you’ll see these people in the Cox Bridge area calling out names of casualties in the Iraq War. The Sudexo protests took place on our campus during admissions/visitation season this past spring, so visitors and prospective students witnessed that (in other words, it was not suppressed at all). This campus is actually very active in terms of community service and political activism. I don’t understand how any student would consider the campus apathetic. While we don’t have “school pride”, we tend to strongly support certain causes. And surely you heard about that stand-off that took place between Muslim Students and Jewish students in Asbury circle (this was a couple of years ago I think, I forget) when the aggression flared up over there. Point is, no one will think you are crazy for having your views or vocalizing them. Not only are you at one of the most liberal universities (especially private) in the south, you are in one of the most liberal metro areas in the south (or period, but some places up here still have that stereotypical southern conservatism). We even have Communist Party based organization on campus which I happened to attend a Troy Davis rally with. Didn’t find out until after wards when attending dinner. I was kind of spooked because ironically, they were meeting this socialist organization from Tech at the restaurant. It was just weird to me lol. Freshmen year was so random and fun )</p>
<p>Honestly, if you look up YouTube Emory (or maybe it’s Itunes), you’ll see that we bought the Georgian government in for a conference shortly after that conflict to tell about (and to some extent, bolster them) their side of their conflict.</p>
<p>Just look at some of those videos, and see some of the topics covered to see what I mean.</p>
<p>You know, I think it depends. I would say overall Emory is probably moderate to liberal. But it depends on who you hang out with and what you get involved in. There’s a good mix that leads to healthy debate. I think the newspaper did an unofficial poll a few years ago, and if I recall correctly about 15% of students classified themselves as conservative.</p>
<p>Again, I can’t give statistics, but it just seems as if liberal students/values are more visible/vocal. Either way, the OP is fine. I am certain of that.</p>
<p>Bernie, thanks for the detailed breakdown. I won’t be joining the Communist party based organization. However, I am more liberal than the American Democrats. I think progessive is the better word to describe my beliefs… but, from what you say, it seems like I won’t have a problem fitting in… on campus. I doubt I’d be welcomed with open arms in Georgia outside of Atlanta. I had to choose between Emory and Notre Dame at one point and one of the reasons I chose Emory is because I probably would not fit in that much at ND. </p>
<p>Also, are there a lot of atheist/agnostics on campus? Are there a good amount of LGBT folks on campus? (I am not gay … however, I am tired of my high school’s lack of diversity and intolerance… so some diversity would be appreciated!)</p>
<p>Lots of LGBT people (we could probably hold a pride parade on campus) and lots of atheist/agnostics (some are my friends, and I’m Christian. I only have 2 definite LGBT friends though, which I find funny given the amount on campus).</p>
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