What is the political climate of Vandy like? Would a hard-left progressive feel out of place?
Vanderbilt has a lean left but a stronger presence of Republican and conservative voices than you find at many other top 20 institutions. The student body in my opinion is more “reflective” of the workplace you all seek to enter. A divided world politically. In this respect, I feel that Vanderbilt has more accurate training grounds and is more reflective of society for these particular four years of life. The classrooms and the newspapers will not be monolithic in either direction. Obama garnered most votes in those years. Read the newspaper online to see how the student body voted last round. Our Vandy son was active on the left spectrum of things and resided in a residential house that had a history of social activism on campus. That said, I believe liberal students are scattered all over campus now.
people with similar political beliefs tend to stick together though there is a solid mix on campus. white frats lean conservative (or are almost entirely conservative like SAE for example) and black vandy is quite leftist. there are pockets of those on either side all over campus. theres a decent amount of libertarians & many conservatives on campus are staunchly anti-Trump.
Many students aren’t overly concerned with politics, are somewhere in the middle, and don’t use politics to determine who they hang with. As long as students (on the far right or left) aren’t ramming their beliefs down others throats most students don’t care where you are politically.
It is fair to say there are other U’s that are more left leaning than Vandy but you will not feel out of place and you will find many students with similar views.