<p>What is the political atmosphere at NU? I once read that it was generally a moderate environment, but then recently saw on TheU.com that it was considered "very conservative." any current students have input on this?</p>
<p>Umm... I would consider "very conservative" a huge overstatement. There is a substantial gay population at NU, which definitely drives things left, and College Democrats is one of the top-funded student groups on campus. (I think they get more money than College Republicans, but I'm not sure.) In fact if you asked me before I read that ^, I would have said liberal to liberal-moderate. But I never would have picked anything on the right end of the spectrum.</p>
<p>We had a mandatory orientation program on diversity- only one conservative had the courage to speak up, and they were literally shouted down by the entire room of 300 or so freshman. I'd say its definitely left of center, but not as FAR left, on average, as most college campuses go.</p>
<p>Facebook network stats:</p>
<p>52% None Listed
22% Liberal
10% Moderate
5% Very Liberal
4% Conservative
3% Other
2% Libertarian
2% Apathetic</p>
<p>IMO, these statistics give a good indication of the political leanings of the student body. While there are conservatives on campus, the vast majority of students at NU are liberal. There is a College Republicans club and some other conservative groups, but I think they are much less popular than College Feminists, College Democrats, and the other liberal student groups on campus. Read the student newspaper, and I think you'll see that articles are mostly written from a liberal perspective. So, I think it is blatantly incorrect to say NU is "very conservative." It may be a little bit more conservative than other elite universities, perhaps because it draws a lot of students from the traditionally conservative Midwest, but this isn't to say NU is conservative. I conclude that the NU student body is liberal, but perhaps not as liberal as the student bodies at many other elite universities, such as Brown, Columbia, and Yale.</p>
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<p>liberal indoctrination girl by any chance??</p>
<p>The only direct quote I remember the girl saying was "thin skinned" though "liberal indoctrination" rings a bell. Were you in the section where a guy on the right middle side kept yelling without the mic? He's in my seminar :P I was the one who pointed out that there's no such thing as "reverse discrimination".</p>
<p>As vp of college dems, i can tell you that we're the third best funded student group on campus (wayyy ahead of campus repubs). i would describe the political atmosphere as slightly left of moderate.</p>