<p>Just curious, do you guys think Dartmouth deserves its conservative reputation??</p>
<p>I'm not a student there, but I would say probably not. I think most people agree that the conservative image was either true in the past or true in the present only when the school is compared to other top colleges. Let's face it, you could be pretty far left and still be right of the other Ivies. But, like I said, I don't know.</p>
<p>The Dartmouth, from all of the articles I've read in the last few months, is usually pretty centrist; it's interesting that it officially endorses John Kerry for president. The authors of the articles seem very open-minded. On the other hand, when one student took political correctness too far in a letter to the editor, a volley of replies came back denouncing it. Left, but not too far left? I'll take it.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is NOT conservative! I don't understand this. I just voted today and I saw 2 Bush-Cheney signs and about 200 Kerry-Edwards. The Young Democrats are much more active and greater in number than the College Republicans. I'd guesstimate 80% of Dartmouth students are liberal.</p>
<p>BTW, anyone ever read "Poisoned Ivy"? A brief synopsis:
Like his father & grandfather before him, Benjamin Hart entered Dartmouth College. During his years there, he was a founder of Dartmouth Review, an off-campus newspaper. As he was distributing copies of the newspaper, he was bitten by a college administrator. The faculty voted overwhelmingly to condemn the newspaper, not the administrator.</p>
<p>The Dartmouth Review is a conservative publication, and the faculty here is--as the synopsis suggests--quite liberal.</p>
<p>My feeling is that the faculty is overwhelmingly liberal, but that the student body is about evenly split. The liberals are more politically active, but I think the average student at Dartmouth is pretty much an apolitical centrist.</p>
<p>I would say that Dartmouth's reputation stands, to an extent. Along with Princeton, it is among the most conservative Ivies (though that doesn't say much), and it's a place where people feel free to be conservative. The Dartmouth Review is still a force on campus, more than most people (including most students) realize. Dartmouth is one of the few campuses I know of where there are more explicitly conservative papers (The Review, The Beacon) than liberal papers (The Free Press). Contrary to something said earlier, the last I heard, the College Republicans were bigger than the Young Democrats. The faculty is mostly liberal (as it is just about everywhere else), but I'd say most students aren't liberal or conservative--I'd describe most of them as, for lack of a better term, libertarian. They tend to be very "live and let live" people, very befitting New Hampshire's motto "Live Free or Die." They want minimal intrusion of authority figures (whether government or administration), but at the same time, are fairly liberal socially.</p>
<p>Wow, DD really will fit in well there - her government teacher has proclaimed her a libertarian, a badge she wears with some pride - I must confess the live and let live philosophy is one she learned at home.</p>
<p>I would say its totally undeserved. The last election poll in 2000 had Gore over 70% and bush below 20%, similar to Penn, etc. The centrist students are generally much more moderate liberal than moderate conservative. I was hard pressed to find that many bush fans. </p>
<p>There is a vocal minority of very political oriented people, on the right and left. Dartmouth might be unique in that both are allowed to be heard, but the Review is not a campus paper, sanctioned by the college, or even allowed to be put in students boxes. </p>
<p>Most students I know are liberal, or centrist. The conservative Review writers are more libertarian than conservative, which I found interesting.</p>
<p>A few quibbles with Slipper's post, and clarifications on my own. I'm sure many students vote Democrat, many more so than vote Republican; I'm not referring to votes, but rather to general political (or life) philosophy. I would consider the general actions of Dartmouth students (aside from the peculiar animal that is voting) to be more in line with libertarianism rather than liberalism (modern, of course) or conservativism. </p>
<p>As for The Review, it is true that it is not a college-sanctioned paper, and never has been. Nevertheless, I'd consider it the most influential paper on campus, especially with the administration. And no paper is allowed to "be put in students boxes."</p>
<p>Making those distinctions is important, so yes Dartmouth is politically liberal or democrat in a great majority. In terms of "life philosophy", I would say Dartmouth students are 'libertarian' towards how they view the administration or the Hanover police (i.e. please let us do what we want), but you will be hard-pressed to find a school where the students do not feel this way. </p>
<p>The Review takes a normal student viewpoint to the extreme sometimes, and garners as much hatred as respect. It is rarely discussed in most circles, and is often vilified. The 'free press' was created as a direct response to the paper, and since it was college sanctioned, angry conservative students wanted the same treatment and responded with 'the beacon.'</p>
<p>You have to remember that this is also the school that had an uproar over a 'hawaiian party' a few years back. My point is there some hard core libertarians, some hard core liberals, and mostly a ton of happy-go-lucky moderate type people. </p>
<p>By the way, I enjoyed picking up a copy of 'the dartmouth' in my box everyday.</p>
<p>...mostly a ton of "liberal" happy go lucky moderate type people that is : )</p>
<p>Oh, and the "free press" is the liberal dartmouth paper (for those who don't know).</p>
<p>Hey everyone. I was very afraid before I came to Dartmouth that it was going to be quite conservative. I now find I never needed to worry. Here are some rough stats:</p>
<p>On Nov. 2, from Dartmouth, there were about 3,500 confirmed voters (that is, there were polls and this is the number who definitely voted).</p>
<p>3,000+ voted for Kerry.</p>
<p>400ish voted for Bush. My numbers aren't exactly correct I know, but they're about this number. That's why I'm leaving that extra 100 people as a margin.</p>
<p>Also- 73-78% of Dartmouth Students can be considered Democrat/liberal.</p>
<p>Last night at midnight there was a candlelight vigil in the middle of the green where I would say about 100 people stood in the center of the green with a ton of candles. We all just talked about where we hoped the country could go from here and what we could do to help the situation now that Bush is going to be in office for four more years. It was pretty awesome. </p>
<p>Also- the young democrats had so much participation for the election. They set up rides to the polls from 5 locations on campus (and campus isn't even THAT huge)- they got Vanessa Kerry to come to campus, I just saw Howard Dean speak on Nov. 1 and he's coming back on Sunday to discuss the election now that it's over. </p>
<p>There is room for conservatives, but I would say they are a minority.</p>
<p>Anyhow, those are my thoughts. -Zack</p>
<p>I totally agree!</p>
<p>Its a shame that a small minority of vocal students can convince the rest of the world its a conservative school, because it is not at all!</p>
<p>Last weekend I must have seen 8 Kerry bumper stickers, pins, or posters to every bush one. Funny, the one car waving around a bush flag was booed by a group of about 10 students.</p>
<p>I still think that Dartmouth is one of the most conservative Ivies. I will concede, however, that most students vote Democrat--not really surprising. Second, what you cannot deny is that conservatives are more of a force on campus than at most other schools. From holding up Confederate battle flags at a Dean rally last year, to the College Republicans consistently thrashing the Young Dems in debates, to the Review's influence on alums and administration, conservatives form a powerful force at Dartmouth that I don't think you see in many other places.</p>
<p>As for getting The Dartmouth in your boxes, are you referring to your Hinman box or boxes on the street? If it's your Hinman box, you're the only person I've ever heard of to get it there.</p>
<p>wisconsin guy is obviously a conservative. I'll grant that there are certain republicans, but I don't know if so many republicans actually want to wave around the confederate flag, or if that is just a group of really stupid people that happen to make the campus unfortunate enough to have to deal with them. Yes, there are conservatives at Dartmouth- but they are very hard to find.</p>
<p>Totally. I think the small minority of conservative/ libertarian people find that they have a niche because of The Review, but they are out of touch with the average student who overwhelmingly has a more liberal viewpoint. At least the few vocal conservatives at Dartmouth are well spoken philosophical libertarian types, as opposed to other places with less thought out conservatism.</p>
<p>Point, Dartmouth is a very liberal school with a libertarian view towards drinking etc, and with a small minority of vocal libertarian conservative students who like to write alot and cause a stir (and who are often received with as much anger as support) </p>
<p>Oh yeah, I had the D delivered to my box since it was more convenient and they did this for me.</p>
<p>interesting link</p>
<p>I would just like to point out that I am one of the quotes in that article :)</p>
<p>"Totally. I think the small minority of conservative/ libertarian people find that they have a niche because of The Review, but they are out of touch with the average student who overwhelmingly has a more liberal viewpoint."</p>
<p>I wouldn't say they're out of touch, necessarily. I think Dartmouth's political diversity and the open discourse that takes place between students is one of the school's fortes. As one of the few Republicans in my group of friends, I've certainly engaged in many friendly political discussions. At other schools I've heard that there's a good deal of hostility toward any student professing to be a Republican, but I've found here that as long as I back up my beliefs with logical arguments, I won't get too much crap. It's certainly not like some other schools that come to mind, where liberal students don't even like to be in the same vicinity of Republicans, much less have rational discussions with them and take time to rethink or reaffirm their own beliefs. The Republicans on those campuses tend to stay in the closet, and so its easier for the liberals to be a little more narrow-minded and make unfair generalizations (like "the stupid redneck religious right is doing this"). So Dartmouth's "conservative image" isn't conservative in the sense that the students here are mostly Republicans, because they're definitely not. It's conservative in the sense that Republicans can admit to their beliefs--even expect to be listened to--without fear of getting tarred and feathered.</p>
<p>But that is also because Dartmouth conservatives tend to have more logical arguments than at some other places (the libertarian oriented point of view). I think we all agree that most Dartmouth students are liberal, or at a minimum Democrats, while a the minority of conservatives are well-spoken and have a scene that allows them to express their views freely. I wouldn't want it any other way.</p>